[OCCUPATIONAL]. Pullman Porter collection identified to Willie Leonard Sims (1910-1969), incl. uniform cap, ID card, documents, and photographs.

A group of 9 items, including a Pullman porter cap, approx. 8 1/2 x 9 in. and 3 1/2 in. height, faded blue fabric with black visor and cords anchored at each end by a small "Pullman" button, badge at center above visor reads "Southern Sleeping Car Porter," interior sweat band present along with manufacturer's label for "Ruby's Uniform Caps" in Chicago.

[With:] Card placard stating "This car is served by W.L. Sims"; Identification card issued to Sims by The Pullman Company on 8 June 1943; Commissary Circular No. 91, Chicago: The Pullman Company, 1946; 2 "Payroll Deduction and Earnings" statements; a State of Georgia Withholding Tax Statement; a 4 x 3 1/4 in. black and white snapshot of Sims along with two other African American Pullman employees; and a photograph of Sims, framed to 6 1/2 x 9 in.

Provenance: From the estate of Nelly Sims, daughter of Willie L. Sims, native of Stockbridge, Georgia. Lot includes a typed personal statement from Sims's daughter describing his work as a Pullman porter.

Willie Leonard "W.L." Sims started as Pullman porter at the age of 32, working as a "Southern Sleeping Car Porter" on the Southern Railway System from 1942-1964. Though African American men working as Pullman Porters often faced rampant discrimination, difficult working conditions, and received low pay, the position nonetheless still maintained an aura of prestige within the African American community. This was exemplified, in part, by the Porter's uniform, but came at a steep cost. An April 1915 government inquiry led by Chairman Frank P. Walsh of the Federal Industrial Commission found that porters were typically paid $27.50 a month wages, but were required to purchase their uniforms exclusively at Marshall Fields & Company at the cost of $24.50 whenever they needed a new uniform. Despite this, Sims's daughter's statement indicates that her father was "Proud to be a Pullman porter, [and] Proud to wear the cap that said 'Southern Sleeping Car Porter.'"

This lot is located in Cincinnati.