Original Illinois Club History

Original Illinois Club founder, Mister Wiley Knight

A Brief Club History

The club’s history tells the story of a pioneer in human relations whose vision and love for social graces helped to establish our rich history, pageantry and dignity of the Original Illinois Club…Mr. Wiley Knight, our founder.

It is the story of a young man who worked as a “Pullman porter” on the trains of Chicago, Illinois, and who later became one of the founding fathers of black middle class society.

Because they were porters who worked for the Pullman Company, they were given the name “Pullman porters”. These well dressed men in uniform provided first-class service to well-to-do white passengers during the late 1800’s to the 1960’s, when trains were the main form of travel with ultimate comfort.

Few people are aware that the African American Pullman porters were probably the catalyst in starting the civil rights movement as we know it today. These porters were trailblazers in many areas, besides forming the first trade union in the African American community.

In 1891, Wiley Knight left his home in Tennessee and went to Chicago where he worked as a Pullman porter. While employed on one of the allied activities of the World Columbian Exposition in 1894, he met an affluent family who owned and operated a railroad in Louisiana. His service so impressed the family that they offered him employment in New Orleans.

Once he arrived in New Orleans, it became known to him that there were no carnival balls for Negroes. The only entertainments were square dances and quadrilles. Wiley saw a need for introducing dancing and social graces to the Negro community.

Thus, in 1894, having made his residence in New Orleans at 2821 ½ Upperline Street, Mr. Knight set up a dancing school in the uptown section on Cadiz near Camp Street.

The first ball, in 1895, was held at the Globe Hall, located at St. Peter and Marais Streets. Miss Louise Fortier was the first queen.

Shortly after the ball, a meeting was held at the home of Miss Fortier, on Chestnut between Jena and Cadiz Streets. At that meeting, it was agreed that the group would form the Illinois Club. It was called the “Illinois Club”, because it mostly consisted of the Pullman porters and maids from Illinois. The first president was Miss Louise Fortier. Later, because most members were not originally established in New Orleans and wanted to insure their place of origin was known, the group changed their name to the “Original Illinois Club”.

Mr. Knight attended his last ball in 1941. At various points in his life, Wiley Knight had careers in valet, butler, waiter services, catering services, and as a railroad chef. It is believed that he died around 1953, however, his legacy continues through the Balls hosted each year by members of the Original Illinois Club, Inc.

Rise of the Pullman Palace Car Company

In 1859, as the railroads were expanding their reach across America, Pullman converted passenger cars into sleepers. These comfortable, luxurious sleeping cars were an instant hit, affording wealthier passengers the amenities they were accustomed to at home and allowing middle-class travelers to enjoy a taste of the good life.

The first Pullman porter began working aboard the sleeper cars around 1867, and quickly became a fixture of the company’s sought-after traveling experience. Just as all of his specially trained conductors were white, Pullman recruited only black men, many of them from the former slave states in the South, to work as porters. Their job was to lug baggage, shine shoes, set up and clean the sleeping berths and serve passengers.

George Pullman was open about his reasons for hiring Negro porters: He reasoned that former slaves would know best how to cater to his customers’ every whim, and they would work long hours for cheap wages. He also thought that black porters (especially those with darker skin) would be more invisible to his white upper- and middle-class passengers, making it easier for them to feel comfortable during their journey.

But despite the undeniable racism behind Pullman’s employment practices, he ended up giving advantages to people who desperately needed them. In the early 1900s, a time when many other businesses wouldn’t hire African Americans, the Pullman Company became the largest single employer of black men in the country.

A Pullman porter making up an upper berth aboard the "Capitol Limited" bound for Chicago, Illinois in 1944.

Working as a Pullman porter became a coveted job, even a career, and many brothers, sons and grandsons of porters followed in their footsteps. Porters were paid more than what many other black workers made at the time, and the work was not backbreaking, when compared to field labor. More importantly, they got to travel the country, at a time when this was unthinkable for the vast majority of black Americans.

As Pullman porters became famous for their superior service, many former porters moved on to jobs at fine hotels and restaurants, and some even moved up to the White House. Porter J.W. Mays first served President William McKinley in his sleeping car; he would later spend more than four decades in the White House, serving McKinley and the eight presidents who followed him.