Murder on the Kansas City Special? Pullman Porters, Emotions, and the Strange Case of J. H. Wilkins

Pearce, Rosemary

Abstract

J. H. Wilkins, an African American railroad porter for the Pullman Company, was killed while on duty in April 1930. How he met his death has never been fully determined, but the Pullman Company’s investigation file exposes the dangerous and racialised emotional terrain that porters navigated daily on their journeys across the US. By examining Wilkins’ death, and the work of Pullman porters more broadly, this article makes the case that white control of black emotions in occupational and public spaces was a significant characteristic of the Jim Crow era, and demands further scholarly attention.

Citation

Pearce, R. (2018). Murder on the Kansas City Special? Pullman Porters, Emotions, and the Strange Case of J. H. Wilkins. Journal of American Studies, 53(3), 683-702. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021875818000476

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 15, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 5, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 5, 2018
• Journal: Journal of American Studies
• Print ISSN: 0021-8758
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-5154
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 683-702
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021875818000476
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/945010
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/murder-on-the-kansas-city-special-pullman-porters-emotions-and-the-strange-case-of-j-h-wilkins/75FF2C1E6233A75EC42DF4D51DF7FC77