rising from the rails the story of the pullman porter

Footnote 7 The Pullman Company launched its own investigation, which certainly operated under motives other than seeking justice for Wilkins. The coroner's inquest concluded that Wilkins “came to his death as a result of causes unknown” and no one was prosecuted in connection with the incident. Footnote 6 Consequently, the sequence of events that led to Wilkins's death has never been wholly established. when the majority of passengers were in their sleeping berths. Footnote 5 The company investigation ascertained that Wilkins had disappeared from the train between 4 a.m. Footnote 4 If the situation in which the body was found was not puzzling enough, the location of his body was seventeen miles from the train's nearest scheduled stop.

Wilkins's death was attributed to multiple injuries, including depressions in his skull and a wound under one arm. While the reason Wilkins was bound to the tree remains uncertain, it is clear from the details that he did not die from hanging. His body was discovered in a kneeling position, knees resting on the ground. Wilkins's body was found tied loosely by his neck to the trunk of a small sapling using the sleeves of his white Pullman jacket. Footnote 3 A brief description of these circumstances evokes the infamous form of lynching, in which the victim is hung from a tree or telegraph pole, often mutilated, and left on display. Footnote 2 A group of young local boys, three black and one white, found his body tied to a tree near Locust Grove, Georgia. John Henry Wilkins, an African American porter for the Pullman Company, was killed in the early morning of 5 April 1930 while working on the Kansas City Special from Jacksonville, Florida.

Rising from the rails the story of the pullman porter