When I discovered that my Great Great Uncle Edward Casey worked for the Pullman Company in Chicago for 42 years I became interested in learning more about life working for Pullman, living in his company town, and the landmark strike of 1894 and legal battle that followed. Searching on Amazon, I ordered The Pullman Case to read up on the subject. I was a bit disappointed when it arrived to see what a thin volume it was. I had hoped to find something that provided a real sense of what it was like to be a Pullman employee in Chicago in 1894, and this was not the book to fill that need.
It did, however, provide a bigger picture view of things. Where I was looking for a book about a single tree, I got a overview of the forest. The title of the book is ‘The Pullman Case’ after all, at it gave background on the Pullman Company, it’s founder George Pullman, his company town and the workers he employed. But this book also introduced the labor leaders, politicians, prosecutors and defenders who carried out the struggle in the courtrooms. Of particular interest to me was the amazing extent to which the government worked directly with and for the railroads. I was interested to learn that a young railroad attorney, Clarence Darrow, switched sides to defend the workers.
George Pullman died in 1897. So fearful was he that the hatred he had engendered among his workers would lead them to dig up and desecrate his body, that he was buried in one of his own train cars, under crisscrossed iron rails with cement poured on top.
My Great Great Uncle Edward Casey worked for Pullman’s company until 1927 and died a year later in 1928. I may never be able to uncover exactly how the turmoil of the time affected him personally, but in gaining a broader understanding of the time and place, I think I can at least get closer to understanding what it must have been like.