National Railroad Museum – Green Bay, WI

When you think of one of the first African-American labor unions in the US, what comes to mind?

Trains – specifically porters for those trains. It wasn’t until 1937 that the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was organized by A. Philip Randolph. You can learn all about life for the porters when you visit the National Railroad museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

We had just finished a serendipitous two days in nearby Door County. En route to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we drove straight through Green Bay and wanted to see something.This museum popped up on Trip Advisor. What cinched the deal was when someone said, “Great for an hour or two, especially on a rainy day.” It was raining. We had about 90 minutes – no longer. “Let’s do it,” I told my husband.

 

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The main exhibit was “Pullman Porters: From Service to Civil Rights.” What I really enjoyed about this exhibit is that they had voices from previous Pullman porters reminiscing about their own experiences. Some talked about the privilege it was to work for Pullman. Others talked about segregation. The most poignant for me was hearing one retired porter talk about how he was always nicknamed “George” and felt he had no say to correct the passengers. (more…)

Chicago, Wisconsin & Michigan Itinerary

During the summer of 2014, we created a driving trip to Chicago, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about two weeks before the trip. Why a driving trip and why those states?

Millennium Park, Chicago

Let me back up. We had flown for the Boston/Maine trip and the Seattle/Vancouver trip, but had driven for the Washington DC/Shenandoah NP trip. The cost differential between flying and driving was significant enough that we wanted to drive somewhere again. But where should we go? I looked at our map of the US and drew a circle around places within 12 hours from home. Chicago was one of the cities that had popped up.

Since I was missing Wisconsin and Michigan from my visited states list, I wanted to incorporate those as well. A brochure I ordered from Wisconsin highlighted beautiful lighthouses in Door County. From there, we realized we weren’t far from the Upper Peninsula and could swing around and see Mackinac Island. (more…)