Neighbourhood in
In close proximity to
Often entailed
Wages were undesireable, which led to the creation of the OSCP
The Sleeping Car Porters were responsible for spreading music across North America, and pioneered genres like jazz and ragtime.
Experienced vast amounts of
The Quebec government never enacted prohibition laws as stringently as the rest of the continent; Montreal therefore became a hotspot for nightlife.

Sleeping Car Porters

Details of the Job

Unionization

Order of Sleeping Car Porters (OSCP)

Canadian Brotherhood of Railroad Employees (CBRE)

Wages

Poor working conditions

Responsibilities

Greeting Passengers
& stowing baggage

Shining shoes & brushing off coats and hats

Looking after sick children and adults

Dealing with passengers who had had too much to drink

Policing

Living Conditions

Supplied with one
uncomfortable
seat

72 hour average run
with no sleep other
than naps

Sleep in smoking room

Racism and Discrimination

Community

Black Neighbourhoods

Trainyards

The Church

Entrepreneurial Pursuits

Side Hustles

Smuggling goods on
and off the train.

Smuggling onto
and off of train

Barbershops

The Nightlife

Montreal (The Harlem of the North)

Little Burgundy

"Wet city", Lack of Prohibition

Music

Jazz

Ragtime

Multiculturalism

Porters wanted to
get their families into Canada
across the border

West Indies Domestic Scheme

It was their home on the road. It was reliable connection to their community back at home, and a way to stay connected between communities and cities.

The Order of Sleeping Car Porters
(OSCP) was the first Black labour union in North America. It was formed because black workers wanted to improve their working conditions, but were not allowed to join white unions such as the Canadian Brotherhood of Railroad Employees (CBRE).

Sleeping car porters were often treated
as less than humans.
"[W]e were babysitters, not only for little kids but for adults."
- Herb Carvery, sleeping car porter

A Porter's shoe shiner

A Porter's shoe
shiner

^

Advantages & Benefits