CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - On this Labor Day, there were gatherings in Chicago's historic Pullman neighborhood--where Labor Day started after the 1894 Pullman Strike in Chicago.
At 111th street, outside the old Pullman rail car factory, there was a formal Labor Day celebration, put on through the National Park Service and its partners. The Park Service runs what is officially called the Pullman National Monument. And the event featured elected officials and other dignitaries.
But, earlier along 104th Street--at the other end of the Pullman campus some of the same dignitaries helped the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum break ground for a multi-million-dollar--and multi-phase--expansion.
Museum President David Robinson said the expansion, termed the "Community Economic Development Empowerment Project” (CEDEP 2020), is a multi-phase comprehensive innovative plan that will include expanded galleries and exhibit space, revenue generating space and the Jesse Jackson Civil Rights Wing, complete with an elevator, to ensure handicap accessibility.
“We are poised to deliver a living, breathing, Black labor historic, cultural tourism district known as ‘Randolph’s Way,’” said Peterson. “We are confident that the completion of this expansion will simultaneously launch a neighborhood stabilization plan, providing employment and economic opportunities for the residents and businesses in our community and beyond.”
Peterson went on to emphasize that the anchor and crown jewel of Randolph’s Way will be the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. A highlight of the district will be Pullman Porters Row, which is where new tourism and hospitality centered businesses will be located. This represents another first for the museum on the south lakefront region. The project also includes the Jesse White Research Library and Gallery, the Dr. Lyn Hughes BSCP Ladies Auxiliary Women’s History Museum, and additional structures to be announced as the project progresses.
Across 111th street from the big ceremony was what organizers called the "soft launch" of a coffee shop and visitors center, under the banner of the Pullman House Project. The Pullman House Project is restoring historic homes and decorating them for the period. Visitors will learn about Pullman employees and their families inside the places they called home. The Pullman Club Coffee Shop (605 East 111th Street) which is directly across from the Pullman National Monument, will be the starting point for ticketed guided tours.
Pat Shymanski, president of the Pullman House Foundation, is the leader of the Pullman House Project. She said they have a couple of the Pullman homes restored already and expect a few more. The coffee shop, which was giving out free drinks, is expected to formally open in the Spring.
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