Tuesday, 25 August 2009 20:14
Miles of Smiles: Years of Struggle
DVD, 60 min., 1983, Study guide available
Bringing to light a little-known chapter in American civil rights and labor history, this film tells the story of black pullman porters. Working for tips, the porters provided elegant personal service to overnight railroad passengers for 100 years after the Civil War. Rebuked by white organized labor, they miraculously formed the first black American trade union in 1925 under the leadership of A. Phillip Randolph.
Bringing to light a little-known chapter in American civil rights and labor history, this film tells the story of black pullman porters. Working for tips, the porters provided elegant personal service to overnight railroad passengers for 100 years after the Civil War. Rebuked by white organized labor, they miraculously formed the first black American trade union in 1925 under the leadership of A. Phillip Randolph.
Category:
African American Studies