Frank L. Boyd

Frank L. Boyd (November 17, 1881 – May 2, 1962) was an American labor organizer and local leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters from 1926 to 1951 in Minnesota.

In 1912, he signed a wage-increase petition circulated among Pullman porters that called to double their monthly wages from $25 to $50, and to raise them to $60 after two years on the job.

[1] Boyd was an active member of this group, and helped to organize the local chapter, which elected George Shannon as its president.

[7] In October 1919, Boyd served as a delegate for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Protective Union conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Despite warnings from management, by January 1926, Boyd established what would become the local branch of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in St. Paul, and A.W.

Local #3 had its first meetings on 13 and 14 January 1926 at the Welcome Hall on Farrington and St. Anthony Streets in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul; more than 50 men attended.

After this point, Boyd no longer received work as a Pullman porter and for the next decades served as an unpaid organizer for the BSCP, primarily in the role of secretary-treasurer.

[5] The BSCP did not gain congressional recognition until 1935, and in 1937 the union signed a collective bargaining contract that included wage increases and overtime pay.

[1] Over the course of his work with the BSCP, Boyd also helped create a petition calling for living wage pay for Pullman porters that was sent to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and served on the organization's International Executive Board.

[4] Frank Boyd Park is located on the north side of Selby Avenue between Virginia and Farrington Streets, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

[7][9] A bust of Boyd by the artist J. Paul Nesse stands in the park with a plaque that reads "A Fighter For / His Union / His People / His Class.

Officers of the Railway Men's International Benevolent Industrial Association
Officers of the Railway Men's International Benevolent Industrial Association (1922)
Statue of Frank Boyd in Frank Boyd Park
Statue of Frank Boyd in Frank Boyd Park