Pullman Debs

Pullman’s Juneteenth Celebration on June 20th Returns with Parade, Youth Olympics, Culture, Careers, and Community Unity

(Chicago) - On Saturday, June 20, 2026, the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum will once again transform Chicago’s Historic Pullman community into a vibrant center of culture, youth empowerment, labor legacy, and celebration during its Annual Juneteenth Youth Olympics and Community Recommitment Celebration; Second Line Street Parade.

Presented by “Museum 44,” the museum’s Youth and Young Adult Division, named in honor of President Barack Obama, the event highlights the enduring relationship between labor history, freedom, and civic engagement.



The parade kicks off at 10:00 a.m. in an unforgettable style with the nationally recognized “Live the Spirit Brass Band,” which was recently featured during International Jazz Week. The band will be leading a New Orleans-style Second Line Street Parade through the Pullman Historical National Park District — starting at Gately Stadium Park, 810 E. 103rd St. in Chicago.

“The parade symbolizes both celebration and recommitment to youth, community pride, and cultural preservation,” said Museum founder Dr. Lyn Hughes. “We are inviting our supporters and the entire community to embrace and enjoy our Juneteenth activities.”

The Juneteenth Youth Olympic Games will be hosted at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track and Field Center which is located on the grounds of Gately Stadium Park. All events are free to the public and will feature an Olympic Village style theme. Championship games will feature youth basketball, football, baseball, and track & field competitions, along with food trucks, live entertainment, family activities, and informational vendors, including workforce development and an organized labor information section.

Young people and job seekers will also have access to mock interviews, apprenticeship resources, labor unions, and skilled trades information. Organizers expect hundreds of youth participants and families from across the region to attend.

“The event is about more than Olympic styled athletic games. It represents a community-wide recommitment to our young people through mentorship, participation in competitive sports, and exposure to information,” said Museum President & Executive Director Dr. David Peterson. “We are creating a space where youth can experience competitive games, families can celebrate, and communities can build pathways toward a positive community environment and build community economic empowerment.”

The significance of hosting this celebration in Pullman runs deep:

Pullman is home to Chicago’s first and only National Park site, designated by President Barack Obama in 2015.

The Pullman National Historical Park District, a partnership park, is also home to the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. The 31-year-old museum is the nation’s first Black labor history museum and continues serving the community through exterior programs, even while undergoing expansion construction.

The museum highlights the profound historical connection between the Juneteenth holiday and Pullman. The first U.S. Army troops to ride into Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans that slavery had ended were the legendary Buffalo Soldiers, the first peacetime all-Black regiments in American military history. They later became known as the first National Park Rangers.

“Hosting this celebration at Pullman, a site dedicated to labor history, Black excellence, and the legacy of the Pullman Porters, reinforces the enduring connection between freedom, dignity, labor, and opportunity,” added Peterson.

A strong line-up of sponsors have made early commitments including Wintrust Community Bank, Black McDonald’s Operators Association, 76 Gas Station, Acclivus, Inc. F.H. Paschen and JPMorgan CHASE Bank.

“This year’s Juneteenth Olympics arrives during a historic weekend in Chicago, following the opening of the Obama Presidential Center on June 19th,” added Hughes. “Organizers say the timing reflects a larger national conversation about leadership, opportunity, and the ongoing pursuit of freedom and equity.”

For more information on sponsorship and vendor opportunities, visit www.ThePullmanPortersMuseum.org/Juneteenth.

# # #

Opening Friday! Pullman Porters & Maids: Invisible Labor, Visible Legacies Pullman Porters & Maids: Invisible Labor, Visible Legacies, curated by Juelle Daley, presents a new body of work by artist Shane-Jahi Jackson, developed through his research residency at the Newberry Library in Chicago and informed by the archives of the Pullman Company. Through an ensemble of figur...

We need more protests in Pullman... This one is from 1975

Rally for Hotel Florence on May 15, 1975 Shot by Carol Turchan and Gary Frost, this 1975 footage appears to document an early–mid 1970s protest against the sale of items inside the Hotel Florence—mo...

Welcome Joshua!

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. That was the first day of the Pullman Strike. The strike started in the company of town of Pullman, on the south side of Chicago, where workers made luxury sleeping cars for passenger trains.

Pullman National Historical Park, Eugene V. Debs Foundation, Friends of Pullman National Historical Park, Illinois Labor History Society

May 11 Fighting Back Against a Robber Baron On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. That was the first day of the Pullman Strike. The strike started in the company of town of Pullman, on the south side of Chicago, where workers made luxury sleeping cars for passenger trains.

From Julia Berkowitz

May 1 - Mayday Marchers Attacked in Cleveland | Labor History in 2:00 On this day in labor history, the year was 1919. That was the day May Day celebrators in Cleveland, Ohio were attacked as they marched to protest the imprisonment of Socialist, Eugene V. Debs. 1919 was a year of massive upheaval, marked by countless strikes and protests, riots and bomb threats. But....

E.V. Debs at railroad yard, 1912

Before Pullman railcars, before the model town, before the factories of Chicago—George Pullman was a cabinetmaker.

This early advertisement dates to his years in Albion, New York, when Pullman worked as a young woodworker producing chairs, cabinetry, mattresses, and household furnishings. The shop operated with the aid of modern steam-powered machinery, turning out fine furniture with precision and skill, much like the luxury railcars he would later imagine.

One section of the ad even highlights a full department dedicated to coffins, shrouds, and funeral goods, along with hearse and carriage service on request. It’s a reminder that Pullman’s world once centered not on steel and sleeper cars, but on sawdust, hand tools, and a craft that shaped his future.

From carpenter to industrial titan—the story begins here.

On this day, 17 January 1915, Black Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union organiser Lucy Parsons (pictured) led a march against hunger and unemployment in Chicago. It was during this protest that famous union hymn “Solidarity Forever” was completed by IWW member Ralph Chaplin.
Police attacked the crowd of 1500 unemployed people and their children, opening fire with live ammunition and clubbing marchers with blackjacks and pistol butts. The crowd attempted to defend itself, and police reported that "women were fighting just as much as the men". 21 protesters were arrested, including Parsons.
Chaplin had begun writing "Solidarity Forever" during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek coalminers strike in West Virginia in 1913. The lyrics were written to be sung over the tune of US civil war battle anthem "John Brown's Body", in the tradition of US folk music, which frequently repurposed existing songs with new lyrics.
It became one of the IWW's most famous songs. Music was a key tactic the union used to spread its ideas through working class communities, including those with low levels of literacy. It was sung on picket lines all over the US and the world, being translated into languages as diverse as Spanish, Polish, Yiddish and Swahili.
"Solidarity Forever" has also been performed by popular artists including Leonard Cohen, Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips and (as The Nightwatchman).
This book contains "Solidarity Forever" as well as lots more IWW music: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/products/the-big-red-songbook-250-iww-songs

January 15 - Fighting for Opportunity | Labor History in 2:00 On this day in Labor History the year was 1941. That was the day that black labor leader, A Philip Randolph, issued a call for a March on Washington. He proposed the march to bring attention to the employment discrimination faced by African American workers.