Historic Find to Be Exhibited in Saugus Train Station Museum

As work continues on the Saugus Train Station museum, a significant artifact has been obtained for the Historical Society’s collection: an extremely rare Pullman porter’s folding chair in great condition that will help us tell the story of African Americans on the railroad.
Porters’ folding chairs were upholstered with the same material used for the carpeting of Pullman Palace cars, ostensibly to make them disappear into the background. Shortly after the Civil War, businessman George Pullman converted two old passenger cars into luxurious sleeper cars that appealed to wealthy travelers. The first Pullman Porter began working around 1867. Their job was to carry baggage, shine shoes, set up and clean sleeping berths and serve passengers.
Pullman provided long-distance passenger service on the Southern Pacific line (confirmed on the “Owl” and troop trains); the Southern Pacific station agent at Saugus doubled as the Pullman agent (as well as the express agent and the Western Union agent).
Pullman exclusively employed African Americans as porters, just as all Pullman conductors were white. African Americans comprised 44 percent of the Pullman workforce when they formed the nation’s first Black labor union in 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. It took another 12 years for them to get a contract – the first between a major U.S. corporation and a Black labor union.
The museum planned for the Saugus Train Station, which will be opened in two phases, will tell the story of the railroads that ran through the Santa Clarita Valley, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. Our depot’s role in the development of the towns that became our city will be explored, visitors will learn about the station agents, the “Eating Houses” that dotted the rails, the connection with Wells Fargo and Western Union services and the personalities that shaped our town’s layout – yes Henry Mayo Newhall was a director of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the early days. We’re looking forward to telling the whole story about rail transportation in our valley.
Stay connected to the developing museum at www.scvhs.org and learn more about the railroads that traversed our valley at www.scvhistory.com.

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