Letters

Corrections

Railroad historian and author Gene Glendinning submitted the following elaborations and corrections to "The legacies of Pullman" article in the January 2003 issue of Illinois Heritage:

1.   George Pullman initially built his Pioneer sleeping car in Chicago and then Aurora.
2.  The car received wide praise for its opulence and smooth ride.
3.  President Lincoln's remains did not travel in a Pioneer. However, a Pioneer car was part of the Chicago-Springfield procession.
4.   It was some time after Lincoln's death that the Pioneer became the standard design for Pullman sleeping cars. Until then, they were custom built.
5.  Pullman introduced its first dining car two years after the Pioneer's introduction.

A. Lincoln, divorce lawyer

What a marvelous article in the January-February 2003 issue: "Love and Justice: Marital dissolution in antebellum Illinois," by Stacy Pratt McDermott. Every paragraph must have had a lot of strong research behind it. It clearly took a lot of work for her not just to do the research but to simmer it down so elegantly, and the result is well worth the effort. Bravo! I cannot help but think how nice it would be to squish my old 70-page thesis (on application of conspiracy law in Illinois in the 1870s and 1880s) into something so elegant—and how much work that would be.

Wesley Johnston
Dublin, California

In defense of George Pullman

The article "The legacies of Pullman," in the January-February 2003 issue of Illinois Heritage, was most interesting but presented a class-warfare recounting of the 1894 Pullman strike, which is disturbing.

According to Nell Painter in Standing at Armageddon (Norton & Company, NY, 1987), the strict rules enforced in Pullman village led to stays of three years or so by the typical employee; most preferred the freedom of outlying areas where taverns were available. The panic of 1893 caused railroad bankruptcies, and call money interest rates hit 74 percent. I would suspect the 28 percent wage cut (not 25 percent, as Illinois Heritage reported) was an economic necessity, as was the decision not to reduce the rent. Would your mortgage payment decrease ever?

If Pullman's pay and rent were unsatisfactory, why did workers not quit? It was a year before union militants managed to orchestrate mob action, the results of which killed 34 in Chicago, destroyed the union, and landed Debs in jail. How does this reflect on George Pullman? Does anyone else vilify Mr. Pullman? I do not, and respect him for business acumen and considerable humanitarianism for trying to ameliorate worker living conditions by building Pullman village.

Alphonse Johnson
Newark

Irving Dilliard

I was enjoying reading the latest issue of Illinois Heritage when I noticed that Irving Dilliard of Collinsville was listed as a living past president. Perhaps it has already been pointed out or word reached the ISHS after the print deadline, but Mr. Dilliard passed away October 9, 2002, at the Eden Care Center in Glen Carbon.

I've enclosed a copy of an excellent editorial and news article/obituary, which appeared in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about his passing. He was a great champion of history and the Constitution—a truly amazing man. Brian Keller O'Fallon

Editor's note: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch obituary for Mr. Dilliard appears on page 24 in this issue.

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