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Last Pullman Porter Dead at 107 Years; I'll bet most of you have never heard of a "Pullman Porter!
Topic Started: Aug 30 2012, 08:40 PM (325 Views)
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http://www.precinctreporter.com/component/content/article/40-spotlight/3855-last-pullman-porter-dead-at-107-years

History you didn't know about!

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Ben.IsaacsBy Eliz Dowdy

They were a world class act in an era when Black Americans were relegated to the performance of menial tasks, but Pullman porters stood out for their expertise and dedication to service. Not only did they serve the rich and famous

as they traveled across the country, they served the Black communities by bringing in Black publications that were forbidden to be delivered in the south. Publications such as Ebony magazine and Jet magazine could not cross the Mason-Dixon Line via the post office, but that did not keep them out of the hands of readers in the southern states. The Pullman porters brought the bundles and dropped them off outside town where children waited in the shadows to retrieve them and take them into the neighborhood.

Last week in Victorville that era officially came to an end, when the last known Pullman porter, Benjamin Issacs, succumbed to kidney failure three weeks away from his 108th birthday. Issacs was blind, and his hearing was not what it had once been, informed sources stated.

The Precinct Reporter spoke with his younger brother, Andrew Quinten Issacs, from his vacation in Hawaii about his late brother. Ben had recently been released from the hospital and it was obvious he was still extremely ill. The poet/educator, Nikki Giovanni has penned an ode to the Pullman porters in her collection entitled “Blues For All the Changes.”

He stated they were very close; he had talked with Ben the day before he passed; it was something they did on a regular basis. Andrew, who is a spry 89 years of age, is the youngest and only surviving sibling of the five born to Breckinridge “B.R.” Issacs, a butcher, and Cora, a school teacher/beautician.

Ben was born September 8, 1904 in Kansas City, Kansas; he graduated from Sumner High School in Kansas City. Ben Issacs was hired by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway where he worked in the shop for steam engines, according to his brother Andrew. After a bout with pneumonia he recuperated in Albuquerque, New Mexico, then moved to San Diego, and later to Los Angeles in 1929. He started working as a chauffeur, but in April of 1936 he landed the job as a Pullman porter. The Pullman Palace Car Company started in 1867 when its creator, George Pullman, had the idea of providing sleeping cars and other amenities for its first class passengers. The company hired mostly Negroes to work the Pullman cars; that job elevated them to a higher standard of living and prestige than most available jobs of the era. When this reporter traveled from Fort Worth, Texas to basic training in Anniston, Alabama in the late fifties, the first part of the trip by railway was serviced by Pullman porters who looked after me even though I was officially “government issue” (GI).

Ben Issacs serviced up to fifty berths, a challenging job, but an exceedingly rewarding one that opened doors for him he had never imagined.

Meetings with silent screen actors Anita Stewart, Gloria Swanson and his favorite, Roy Rogers, the singing cowboy; ironically they both lived in Victorville/Apple Valley. Other famous names he met and served as a Pullman porter included William Randolph Hearst of newspaper fame; Henry Fonda (Jane's dad); Marilyn Monroe and Edward G. Robinson.

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board records show that Issacs retired in December 1968, after 32 years on the job. Andrew told the Precinct Reporter that he lived with his brother after his separation from the service; they grew very close, and often went camping and traveling in Ben's travel trailer. Andrew was a Buffalo Soldier during WWII; he later worked in Los Angeles County as a Deputy Health Officer and also served on the Inglewood City Council from 1973-1981. He currently resides in Sacramento.

Benjamin Issacs’ death has officially ended an era. His remains were cremated, and will be interred in the burial plot of his late wife Alene at the Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles.

He is survived by his brother Andrew Quinten Issacs; daughter, Delores White of Pomona; six grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; twelve great-great-grandchildren and two great-great-great-grandchildren.
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