CHICAGO — Union Pacific is donating the original artwork it commissioned for the grand opening of the Pullman National Monument to the National Park Service for permanent display.
The poster, created by Chicago artist Joe Nelson, is in the style of UP national park travel posters of the 1900s and honors the resilience and strength of Pullman porters, as well as their significance in the civil rights movement. Nelson discussed its creation in a Q&A on the National Park Foundation website.
“For me and a lot of people in the Black community, we see Pullman porters as a symbol of Black men who were able to pull themselves and their families out of hardships,” Claire Anderson, vice president of Union Pacific’s Black Employee Network in Chicago, said in a media advisory. “Every person that came to the Pullman National Monument grand opening wanted to take a picture of the poster and so many folks wanted to know if they could even buy the poster. Everyone knew how important it was.”
The artwork will be donated today in a 1 p.m. ceremony at the entrance to the National Monument, an event featuring Chicago UP representatives Anderson (manager-track construction), Benita Gibson (general superintendent-Commuter Operations) and Liisa Stark (assistant vice president-public affaris), along with park superintendent Teri Gage.
UP’s support of the National Park Foundation includes a $1 million donation to the Pullman National Monument project in 2015 and $7 million in donations to the foundation since 2018.
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