Historic Pullman Collection

Historical Note

The town of Pullman, Illinois was founded in 1880 by George M. Pullman as a site for his car-building operations (Pullman Palace Car Company) and to house his employees. The area originally purchased by Pullman covered nearly 4000 acres and ran from 87th Street to 130th Street. The developed area was much smaller and was bounded by South Langley Street to the east, Cottage Grove to the west, 115th Street to the south, and continuing a few blocks north of 111th Street. Pullman saw many advantages in the Calumet site, including the topography and fertility of the soil. He also believed that in choosing this area for his model town, it was far enough removed from what he called the “evil influences” of the City of Chicago, and would prove to make better and more content workers. Also important were commercial and industrial factors. As Chicago was the transportation center of the Midwest, all railroads entering the city passed through the Calumet region.

The master builder of Pullman was Solon Spencer Beman, a young architect from New York. He was commissioned by George Pullman to begin designing the town in 1879. Together with landscape architect Nathan F. Barrett, complete plans for the buildings and grounds of the town were laid out, and construction began in the spring of 1880. By the following year, the first residents began to move in, and the company car shops went into operation. The town gradually began to take shape as residences, public buildings, paved streets and parks were built, but it wasn’t until 1884 that this undertaking was completed.

Many people seeking employment were now attracted to this area, and Pullman soon became the focal point for the continued development and expansion of the Calumet region. As a result of this growth, the town was annexed to the City of Chicago in 1889 along with the Village of Hyde Park.

For the next few years, the town continued to grow, and the production level of the Pullman Palace Car Company was high, until 1893 when the country entered another business depression due to the over expansion of the railroad industry. As a result, George Pullman laid off many employees and drastically cut wages. The employees were already unhappy with the high cost of living in the town, and angry because the wages were cut, whereas rent and other expenses stayed the same. They soon decided to take action in the form of a grievance committee. George Pullman was unwilling to compromise, and the Pullman Strike of 1894 was the result, which served as a milestone in the continuing development of the labor movement.

Three years later George Pullman died, and drastic policy changes were made in the company that would affect the whole town. A decision by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1898, forced the company to relinquish all of its non-industrial property. Though the deadline for this was postponed, nearly half of the available property in the town fell into private ownership. When the company finally sold its non-industrial property, it also discontinued the maintenance of the buildings and grounds, and the physical appearance of the town declined.

A large turnover in population also contributed to the town’s decline. In 1908 the company switched to all-steel car production, and as a result skilled workers were no longer needed. Many moved away and were replaced by unskilled immigrants. This trend continued until the late 1920s, when the community began to stabilize, and the town of Pullman became just another Chicago neighborhood.

Today the town of Pullman stands as a historical and architectural link to the past. Though many of the original buildings have been demolished (the Pullman School in 1913, the Arcade Building in 1926, and the Water Tower in the 1950s) others such as the Administration Building and Clock Tower, the Greenstone (Pullman Methodist) Church, the Hotel Florence and numerous residences are still standing.

In 1969, the Pullman district was designated an Illinois Historic Landmark, a National Landmark, in 1970, and a Chicago Landmark in 1972. In 2015, the National Park Service named Pullman a National Monument.

Scope and Content

Series 1: The Pullman Company, 1892-1979

The material in this series includes such items as annual reports, brochures, bulletins, news clippings and related material. The files are divided into two separate categories:

Subseries A: Articles on the Pullman Company

Comprising general information on the building, employees, and the company itself including items such as brochures, news clippings, and excerpts and reprints of articles from various professional journals. The material is alphabetical by subject.

Subseries B: Publications of the Pullman Company

The publications of the company includes such as annual reports, informational brochures, and weekly bulletins and newsletters. The material is alphabetical by subject.

Series 2: The Pullman Family, 1929-1948

This small series of two files is comprised of biographical data on George Pullman and various members of his family, and a reprint of his will made in 1897.

Series 3: The Pullman Free School of Manual Training, 1916-1950

The items contained in this series include announcements, news clippings, programs and publications covering the forty-year history of the school. The material is separated into two distinct categories:

Subseries A: Programs and Activities

The activities of the student body are reflected in this small series by announcements, news clippings and programs. The material is arranged in alphabetical order by type of material.

Subseries B: High School Publication

This large series contains a complete set of the school yearbook, the Pullman Annual, which in its early years was published twice yearly, from its beginning in 1921, to 1950 when the school finally closed its doors. The yearbooks are arranged in chronological order.

Series 4: The Pullman Educational Foundation, 1958, 1977

This small series of two file folders consists of news clippings and reports on the Pullman Educational Foundation, the organization that was set up by George Pullman to fund a school for the children of his employees. The material is alphabetical by subject.

Series 5: The Pullman Strike, 1894, 1939, 1946

The material in this series includes a booklet by the Rev. William Carwardine, an active participant in the strike, reprints of articles written during the strike, and reports and statements made by the company, the employees and George Pullman. The files are arranged in alphabetically order by type of material and by title within.

Series 6: Pullman Town, 1882-1972

This series contains items such as articles, brochures, historical sketches, news clippings, programs and related material on the business establishments, organizations, people, and schools of Pullman, Illinois. The files are divided into two distinct categories:

Subseries A: Community History, 1880s-1970s

The history of the town and the functions of the various organizations such as the Pullman Athletic Association, Pullman Land Association and the Women’s Society of Pullman are reflected in this series through brochures, historical sketches, news clippings and programs. Of special interest is a demographic questionnaire from the 1880s, which is very similar to the census of today, though much more detailed. The material is alphabetical by subject.

Subseries B: Community Publications, 1893-1977

Many of the publications of this series were written by residents of the town, such as Bertha Chadwick Medsker’s series of articles on pioneers of Pullman which appeared weekly in the Calumet Index in 1954 & 1955, or “Our Community,” a monthly bulletin published by the Pullman Trust & Savings Bank, which included articles on the past and current activities of the town. Also included is Pullman-The City of Brick, by H.R. Koopman, a local photographer whose photographs and narratives of the area captured much of its history in detail. Other publications include student dissertations, and reprints of articles from professional journals. The material is arranged in alphabetical order by title.

Photographs

Approximately 97 photographs appear in the collection and are listed at the end of this guide. Local photographer, Henry R. Koopman, took the majority of the photographs.

Supplement 1

Box 9, Folders 13-20 and Box 10, Folders 4-6 were added in January 2019.

The following books were transferred to the Special Collections Book collection:

Important subjects and personalities covered throughout the collection

• The Arcade Building
• “Our Pullman Pioneers”
• The Pullman Athletic Association
• The Pullman Band (see Audio-Visual Collection, Appendix A)
• The Pullman Company: Annual Reports and Statements; The Carbuilder; The Pullman Journal; The Pullman News; Pullman Production Methods
• The Pullman Family
• The Pullman Free School of Manual Training: The Pullman Annual
• The Pullman Strike
• Pullman Town as a Social Experiment
• The Pullman Trust & Savings Bank

Related Materials

• George A. Brennan Papers
• Calumet-Pioneer Historical Society Records
• Calumet Region Community Collection
• Fenger High School Records
• Ton Family Papers

Container List

Series 1: The Pullman Company

Subseries A: Articles on the Pullman Company

Series 1: The Pullman Company

Subseries B: Publications of the Pullman Company

Series 2: The Pullman Family

Series 3: The Pullman Free School of Manual Training

Subseries A: Programs and Activities

Series 3: The Pullman Free School of Manual Training

Subseries B: High School Publications

Series 4: The Pullman Educational Foundation

Series 5: The Pullman Strike

Series 6: The Pullman Town

Subseries A: Community History

Series 6: The Pullman Town

Subseries B: Community Publications

Photographs

Businesses:

Churches

Clubs and Organizations

Municipal Agencies

Parks

Portraits

Schools

Streets

Transportation