Little Known Black History Fact: Lee Wesley Gibson and Ben Isaacs

Mr. Gibson or “George” passed away at the age of 107 and is noted in the records as the oldest surviving member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.

Ben Isaacs dies at 107; oldest Pullman porter

• Obituary published August 18, 2012 in LA Times: Excerpt:  “Records kept by the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum in Chicago had recognized 102-year-old Lee Wesley Gibson of Los Angeles as being the oldest living Pullman porter until Isaacs — born five years earlier than Gibson — came forward in 2010.”

Originally posted on Majic 102.1:

At 101 years old, Lee Wesley Gibson of Keatchie, Louisiana is the oldest surviving member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Gibson served as a pullman porter for 38 years. Back in the day, the job of pullman porter was considered a middle-class position, something Gibson, who was raised by a poor single mom, took pride in.

• http://www.blackamericaweb.com/news/little-known-black-history-fact/little-known-black-history-fact-lee-wesley-gibson

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It doesn't matter.  The fact is that both men are in the records and both deserve to be remembered because we all need to be REMINDED that they were unique individual men who each had a name.  THEIR OWN NAME!  A name that some guy couldn't be bothered with learning.  What was that guy's name?  I know he had a name.  Sadly, people don't remember his name fondly.

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