Pennsylvania Railroad Pension Records, 1900-1920

In 1900, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the largest non-government employer of at the time, introduced an new pension system of mandatory retirement for all employees over 70 from vice presidents to crossing guards.  Workers in ill health could retire after age 65 with the approval of their supervisors. The rules were that the amount of a worker’s pension was one percent of their average earnings in the previous ten years times the length of their service.  The Pennsylvania Railroad pension became a model for other railroads and large companies. 

These data describe the first twenty years of the pension.  Information about almost ten thousand retirees was collected from the reports of the Pennsylvania Railroad Board for the Eastern Lines from 1900 to 1920.  The data include names, occupations, average earnings, pension allowances, type of retirement (mandatory at age 70 or by request of the retiree or his supervisor), ages, years of service, and dates of retirement and death.  The retirees are almost all male and white.  The Pension Board intentionally excluded dining car workers, who were predominantly Black. 

During the first six years of the pension, average earnings were computed by assuming full time employment, but the Pension Board began using actual earnings in 1906.  To study the effect of this change, the Pension Board’s reports included both actual and full-time earnings for employees who retired from 1906 to 1908. 

 Geographic Coverage:    Middle Atlantic states, U.S.

Time Period(s):  1900 – 1920

Data Source:    Pennsylvania Railroad. (1900-1920). Annual Reports. Pension Board. Pennsylvania Railroad Records,  (Series 9: Pension Department, 1899-1958). Urban Archives Center. Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia PA.