Curated OER
History Matters: For the Further Benefit of Our People
After the onset of the 1893 Depression, George Pullman of the Pullman Palace Car Company found his company crumbling as employees "Appealed to the American Railway Union (ARU), which organized a nationwide strike." Read the letter he...
Other
Illinois State Museum: The American Railway Union
Excerpt from U.S. Strike Commission Report. Site also provides focus questions at the bottom.
Other
Kansas Heritage: Pullman Strike, Chicago, 1894
This detailed and informative site explains how the Pullman Strike, which began as a peaceful protest about rent in the company town of Pullman, spread across the country and brought railroad traffic to a halt.
Country Studies US
Country Studies: The Struggles of Labor
This site discusses how for much of the latter half of the 1800s, the life of the common laborer was horrendous. Working in a unsanitary factory, for at least 10 hours a day, making far less than needed to survive, the struggles of the...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: Labor Conflicts and Unionism
This several page chapter from the site From Revolution to Reconstruction outlines the growth of the union in the railroad industry in the late 19th century. Read about the strikes, working conditions, the beginning of the American...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: The Iron Horse: The Pullman Boycott
From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section provides a good description of the events of 1893-1894, including the reasons for the boycott of Pullman cars, the people involved, and how the...
Other
Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography: George Pullman
This biography of George Pullman outlines his business acumen in the development of the Pullman railroad sleeper car, which offered luxury on long train trips. Read the description of the company town he developed in Illinois to house...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Eugene v. Debs and American Socialism
Read about the growth of the Socialist Party in America under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs. Find out about the strikes he led, his political activities, and his arrest for sedition in 1918. Read also about the radical union,...
Other
Illinois Labor History Society: Gene Debs and the American Railway Union
Description of the rise and fall of the American Railway Union in the context of the Pullman Strike.
Other
Illinois Labor History Society: The Parable of Pullman
This resource gives an account of the Pullman Strike of 1894. It discusses what the strike was about, how it was resolved, and the effect its outcome had.
Other
Afl Cio: Eugene Victor Debs (1855 1926)
Debs began his association with labor issues at an early age starting with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. He went on to be active in the American Railway Union, the Socialist Party of America, and the Industrial Workers of the...