Grades: 5-6 • Length: 2 hours
OFFERED NOVEMBER - APRIL
Our restored 1903 wooden Pullman car, Sunbeam, provides the setting for students to discover the critical role that Pullman porters played in giving rise to America’s black middle class, the formation of the black labor movement, and the momentum for the civil rights movement. This slice of history spans 100 years beginning with the Emancipation Proclamation. Students role-play what it was like to travel and work on a Pullman car, visit the mansion where Robert Lincoln conducted Pullman business when he was in Vermont, and participate in discussions about the porters’ enduring fight for social change and justice in America. 

BIG IDEAS: Historical Connections; Human Rights; Impact of Economic Systems; and Nature of Conflict. STANDARDS