Samuel Gompers
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Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 13, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker,
labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
(AFL) and served as the organization's president from 1886 to 1894, and from 1895 until his death in 1924. He promoted harmony among the different
craft union Craft unionism refers to a model of trade unionism in which workers are organised based on the particular craft or trade in which they work. It contrasts with industrial unionism, in which all workers in the same industry are organized into the s ...
s that comprised the AFL, trying to minimize jurisdictional battles. He promoted thorough organization and collective bargaining in order to secure shorter hours and higher wages, which he considered the essential first steps to emancipating labor. He encouraged AFL member unions to take political action to "elect their friends" and "defeat their enemies". In politics he mostly supported Democrats, and occasionally local Republicans. He led the opposition to immigration from China. During World War I, Gompers and the AFL energetically supported the war effort, attempting to avert strikes and boost morale while raising wage rates and expanding membership. He strongly opposed the antiwar labor groups, especially the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
(IWW).


Early life

Gompers was born Samuel Gumpertz on January 27, 1850, in
Spitalfields Spitalfields is a district in the East End of London and within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area is formed around Commercial Street (on the A1202 London Inner Ring Road) and includes the locale around Brick Lane, Christ Church, ...
, a working-class area in the
East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
into a Jewish family that originally hailed from
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. He was the son of Sarah (Root) and Solomon Gumpertz, a cigar maker. At age six, Samuel was sent to the
Jewish Free School JFS (formerly known as the Jews' Free School and later Jewish Free School) is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlot ...
to receive a basic education. His education there was brief, however, and a mere three months after his tenth birthday Gompers was sent to work as an apprentice cigar maker and earn money for his impoverished family. Gompers continued his studies in night school, learning
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and studying the
Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
- a process that he later likened to studying law. While he appreciated
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
in his youth, he held
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
in low regard.


Young worker at the bench

Owing to dire financial straits, the Gompers family immigrated to the United States in 1863, settling in the
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in New York City. Gompers' father manufactured cigars at home, assisted for the first year and half by Samuel. In his free time, the young teenager formed a debate club with his friends, gaining practical experience in public speaking and parliamentary procedure.Gompers, ''Seventy Year of Life and Labor'', vol. 1, p. 28. The club drew Gompers into contact with other upwardly mobile young men of the city, including young
Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...
Peter J. McGuire Peter J. McGuire (July 6, 1852 – February 18, 1906) was an American labor leader of the nineteenth century. He co-founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in 1881 along with Gustav Luebkert and became one of the leading ...
, who would later play a large role in the
AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
. In 1864, at age 14, Gompers joined the Cigar Makers Local Union No. 15, the English-speaking union of cigar makers in New York City. Gompers later recounted his days as a cigar maker at the bench in detail, emphasizing the place of
craftsmanship Workmanship is a human attribute relating to knowledge and skill at performing a task. Workmanship is also a quality imparted to a product. The type of work may include the creation of handcrafts, art, writing, machinery and other products. Workman ...
in the production process: The day after his seventeenth birthday he married his co-worker, sixteen-year-old Sophia Julian. Together they had many children, but only six survived infancy. In 1873, Gompers moved to the cigar maker David Hirsch & Company, a "high-class shop where only the most skilled workmen were employed". Gompers later called this change of employers "one of the most important changes in my life", for at Hirsch's—a union shop operated by an émigré German
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
—Gompers came into contact with an array of German-speaking cigar makers—"men of keener mentality and wider thought than any I had met before", he recalled. Gompers learned German and absorbed many of the ideas of his shop mates, developing a particular admiration for the ideas of the former secretary of the
International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...
, Karl Laurrell. Laurrell took Gompers under his wing, challenging his more simplistic ideas and urging Gompers to put his faith in the organized economic movement of trade unionism rather than the socialist political movement. Gompers later recalled: Gompers complained that the socialist movement had been captured by
Lassallean The General German Workers' Association (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein, ADAV) was a German political party founded on 23 May 1863 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony by Ferdinand Lassalle. It was the first organized mass working-class ...
advocates of "political party action" rather than the "militant economic program of Marx". He warned delegates to the 1900 annual convention that when men became enthusiastic about socialism, "they usually lost interest in their union".


Cigar Makers' International Union career

Gompers was elected president of Cigar Makers' International Union Local 144 in 1875. As was the case with other unions of the day, the Cigar Maker's Union nearly collapsed in the
financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...
of 1873-77, in which unemployment skyrocketed and ready availability of desperate workers willing to labor for subsistence wages put pressure upon the gains in wages and the shortening of hours achieved in union shops. Gompers and his friend Adolph Strasser used Local 144 as a base to rebuild the Cigar Makers' Union, introducing a high dues structure and implementing programs to pay out-of-work benefits, sick benefits, and death benefits for union members in good standing. Gompers told the workers they needed to organize because wage reductions were almost a daily occurrence. He believed that the capitalists were only interested in profits, "and the time has come when we must assert our rights as workingmen. Every one present has the sad experience, that we are powerless in an isolated condition, while the capitalists are united; therefore, it is the duty of every Cigar Maker to join the organization". "One of the main objects of the organization", he concluded, "is the elevation of the lowest paid worker to the standard of the highest, and in time we may secure for every person in the trade an existence worthy of human beings." He was elected second vice president of the Cigar Makers' International Union in 1886 when he was 36 and first vice president in 1896. Despite the commitment of time and energy entailed by his place as head of the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
, Gompers remained first vice president of the Cigar Makers until his death in December 1924.


Leading the AFL

Gompers helped found the
Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada (FOTLU) was a federation of labor unions created on November 15, 1881, at Turner Hall in Pittsburgh. It changed its name to the American Federation of Labor (AF ...
in 1881 as a coalition of like-minded unions. In 1886 it reorganized into the
American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
, with Gompers as president. With the exception of the year 1895, he would remain president of the organization until his death. Under Gompers's tutelage, the AFL coalition gradually gained strength, undermining the position previously held by the
Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...
, which as a result, had almost vanished by 1900. He was nearly jailed in 1911 for publishing, with John Mitchell, a boycott list, but the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
overturned the sentence in ''
Gompers v. Buck's Stove and Range Co. ''Gompers v. Buck's Stove and Range Co.'', 221 U.S. 418 (1911), was a ruling by the United States Supreme Court involving a case of contempt for violating the terms of an injunction restraining labor union leaders from a boycott or from publishing ...
''.


Immigration and foreign affairs

Gompers, who had ties with the Cuban cigar workers in the U.S., called for American intervention in Cuba; he supported the resulting war with Spain in 1898. After the war, however, he joined the Anti-Imperialist League to oppose President
William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
's plan to annex the Philippines. Mandel (1963) argues that his anti-imperialism was based on opportunistic fears of threats to labor's status from low-paid offshore workers and was founded on a sense of racial superiority to the peoples of the Philippines. By the 1890s, Gompers was planning an international federation of labor, starting with the expansion of AFL affiliates in Canada, especially Ontario. He helped the Canadian Trades and Labour Congress with money and organizers, and by 1902, the AFL dominated the Canadian union movement. Gompers, like most labor leaders, opposed unrestricted immigration from Europe because of the fear that it might lower wages of domestic union workers. He strongly opposed all immigration from Asia because it lowered wages and, in his judgement, represented an alien culture that could not be assimilated easily into that of the U.S. Gompers bragged that the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (FOTLU), later renamed the American Federation of Labor (AFL), "was the first national organization which demanded the exclusion of
coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...
s from the United States". He and the AFL strongly supported the
Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...
of 1882 that banned the immigration of Chinese, and published a pamphlet entitled "Some reasons for Chinese exclusion. Meat vs. Rice. American Manhood against Asiatic Coolieism. Which shall survive?" in 1901. The AFL was instrumental in passing immigration restriction laws from the 1890s to the 1920s, such as the 1921
Emergency Quota Act __NOTOC__ The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act (ch. 8, of May 19, 1921), was formulated mainly in response to the larg ...
and the
Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from the Eastern ...
signed into law by President
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...
. At least one study concludes that the link between the AFL and the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
rested in large part on immigration issues, as the owners of large corporations wanted more immigration for cheaper labor and thus supported the Republican Party. Other scholars have seriously questioned this conclusion, arguing it oversimplifies the politics and unity of labor leaders and the major parties. As one reviewer argued in ''
The Journal of American History ''The Journal of American History'' is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the ''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', the official jo ...
'', major Republican leaders, such as President
William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
and
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Mark Hanna Marcus Alonzo Hanna (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and pol ...
, made pro-labor statements, many unions supported their own independent labor parties (or the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
), and unity within the AFL was never so extensive as claimed. During World War I Gompers was a strong supporter of the war effort. He was appointed by President Wilson to the Council of National Defense, where he chaired the Labor Advisory Board. He attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 as an official advisor on labor issues. Despite his support for the war, he later supported amnesty for
political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s who were convicted under Wartime Emergency Acts. He worked with Lucy Robins Lang, who became the executive secretary of the amnesty committee. Lang and Gompers also became friends.


Philosophy

During a severe period of national economic recession in the early 1890s, labor unrest was at its height. A volatile situation in Chicago in August 1893 caused the city's then mayor, Carter Henry Harrison, to warn that the preponderance of the unemployed would lead to riots that would "shake the country", unless Congress interceded. In late August 1893, Gompers addressed 25,000 unemployed workers who had massed on the shore of Lake Michigan. As reported in the ''Chicago Tribune'' on August 31, Gompers inveighed against the controllers of capital and the titans of industry and finance. "Why should the wealth of the country be stored in banks and elevators while the idle workman wanders homeless about the streets and the idle loafers who hoard the gold only to spend it on riotous living are rolling about in fine carriages from which they look out on peaceful meetings and call them riots?" Workers were also consumers, he asserted, and cuts to their wages would hurt not only their personal well-being but the economy as a whole. "When workers' wages are reduced, they necessarily use less, consume less, because of their reduced purchasing power", he wrote. "Only those who ignorantly or grabbingly believe in their avarice that business can prosper with wage reductions have yet to learn the lesson of industrial life and progress." Gompers began his labor career familiar with, and sympathetic to,
Georgism Georgism, also called in modern times Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that, although people should own the value they produce themselves, the economic rent derived from land—including ...
and the precepts of socialism, but gradually adopted a more conservative approach to labor relations. Labor Historian Melvyn Dubofsky has written, "By 1896 Gompers and the AFL were moving to make their peace with Capitalism and the American system ... Although the AFL had once preached the inevitability of class conflict and the need to abolish '
wage slavery Wage slavery or slave wages refers to a person's dependence on wages (or a salary) for their livelihood, especially when wages are low, treatment and conditions are poor, and there are few chances of upward mobility. The term is often used ...
', it slowly and almost imperceptibly began to proclaim the virtues of class harmony and the possibilities of a more benevolent Capitalism." For example, Alex Heron attributes the following quote to Gompers: "The greatest crime an employer can perpetrate on his employees is to fail to operate at a profit". Gompers began to take a neutral stance in politics after the failure of the efforts to elect
Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
as mayor of New York, but Gompers remained a
Single Tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. The idea of a single tax on land values was proposed independently by John Locke and Bar ...
Georgist later in life. Gompers's philosophy of labor unions centered on economic ends for workers, such as higher wages, shorter hours, and safe working conditions so that they could enjoy an "American" standard of living—a decent home, decent food and clothing, and money enough to educate their children. He thought economic organization was the most direct way to achieve these improvements, but he did encourage union members to participate in politics and to vote with their economic interests in mind. Gompers's trade union philosophy and his devotion to collective bargaining with business proved to be too conservative for more radical leaders, such as
Ed Boyce Edward "Ed" Boyce (November 8, 1862 – December 24, 1941) was president of the Western Federation of Miners, a radical American labor organizer, socialist and hard rock mine owner. Early life Edward Boyce was born in County Donegal, Irelan ...
, president of the
Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a trade union, labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mining#Human Rights, mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and ...
(WFM), and, later, WFM secretary-treasurer
Bill Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...
. In 1905, Haywood and the WFM helped to establish the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
(IWW), whose members were known as Wobblies, with the goal of organizing the entire working class. The IWW's long-term goal was to supplant capitalism with a workers' commonwealth. Nonetheless, when government abuses against the leaders of the WFM seemed too egregious, Gompers relented and offered assistance. Gompers and his AFL unions vigorously fought the IWW in the U.S. and in Latin America, viewing them as a disruptive dual union that tried harder to destroy capitalism than to help workers. He cooperated with widespread government arrests of union leaders for the IWW's militant opposition to the World War. He said, "the IWW's ... are exactly what the Bolsheviki are in Russia, and we have seen what the IWW Bolsheviki in Russia have done for the working people." Gompers led the anti-Socialist faction inside the AFL, losing to Socialists only once, in 1894. He argued that socialists believed workers and unions could never co-exist with business interests and wanted to use the labor unions to advance their more radical political causes. By 1920 Gompers had largely marginalized Socialist influence to a few unions, notably coal miners and the needle trades.


Freemason

Gompers was a leading
Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, reaching the 32º in the
Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...
Valley of Washington D.C. in 1906. In 1920 he wrote, "In my Masonic life, I have visited lodges in many lands, and I have learned that Freemasonry in many countries, particularly in Latin countries, is the principal means whereby freedom of conscience, of thought, and expression is preserved."


Death and legacy

Gompers' health went into serious decline starting in February 1923, when a serious bout of
influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
sent him to the hospital, sidelining him from work for six weeks.Peter J. Albert and Grace Palladino, "Introduction" to ''The Samuel Gompers Papers: Volume 12: The Last Years, 1922–24''. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010; p. xx. No sooner had he recovered from the influenza, than he was stricken by a case of
bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
that laid him low again. By June 1924 Gompers, who suffered from
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
, could no longer walk without assistance, and he was hospitalized again, this time suffering from
congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
and
uremia Uremia is the term for high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, in the blood that would be no ...
. He collapsed in Mexico City on Saturday, December 6, 1924, while attending a meeting of the
Pan-American Federation of Labor Pan-American Federation of Labor ( es, Confederación Obrera Panamericana) was an international trade union organization, promoted by the American Federation of Labor. The organization was founded at a conference in Laredo, Texas, United States in D ...
. It was recognized that his condition was critical and that he might not survive for long. Gompers expressed the desire to die on American soil and he was placed aboard a special train that sped toward the border. He died in
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...
, Texas. Gompers was buried at the
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch C ...
in
Sleepy Hollow, New York Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on ...
. Gompers is buried only a few yards away from industrialist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
, another important figure of industry in the
Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Weste ...
. Gompers inspired later generations of labor leaders, such as
George Meany William George Meany (August 16, 1894 – January 10, 1980) was an American labor union leader for 57 years. He was the key figure in the creation of the AFL–CIO and served as the AFL–CIO's first president, from 1955 to 1979. Meany, the son ...
, who paid tribute to Gompers as a European immigrant who pioneered a distinctly American brand of unionism.
Reuben Soderstrom Reuben George Soderstrom (March 10, 1888 – December 15, 1970) was an American leader of organized labor who served as President of the Illinois State Federation of Labor (ISFL) and Illinois AFL-CIO from 1930 to 1970. A key figure in Chicago an ...
, President of the Illinois State Federation of Labor and the Illinois AFL-CIO from 1930 to 1970, cited his 1923 encounter with Gompers as particularly formative. Gompers chided Soderstrom after the latter expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress being made in a local strike, telling him "Young man, you know you can climb the highest mountain if you've got the patience to do it one step at a time." Reuben never forgot those words, stating decades later "that philosophy had a lot to do with guiding the activities I've been engaged in." His belief led to the development of procedures for
collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and rights for workers. The i ...
and contracts between labor and management that remain in use today. In practice, AFL unions were important in industrial cities, where they formed a central labor office to coordinate the actions of different AFL unions. Issues of wages and hours were the usual causes of strikes, but many strikes were assertions of jurisdiction, so that the plumbers, for example, used strikes to ensure that all major construction projects in the city used union plumbers. In this goal they were ideally supported by all the other construction unions in the AFL fold. Gompers is the subject of statuary in several major American cities. A bronze monument honoring Gompers by the sculptor Robert Aitken is in Gompers Square on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, D.C. On September 3, 2007, a life-size statue of Gompers was unveiled at Gompers Park, named after the labor leader in 1929, on the northwest side of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. This is the first statue of a labor leader in Chicago. Local unions throughout Chicago donated their time and money to build the monument. A U.S. Navy destroyer tender was named for Gompers. The Samuel Gompers Houses, a public housing development on the
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...
of New York, is named in his honor. There are schools named for Gompers in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
,
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,
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and
The Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...
, a school in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
renamed to Jesse Owens Community Elementary, and a school in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
. On 27 January 1950, the centennial of Gompers’ birth, the U. S. Post Office Department issued a 3¢ commemorative postage stamp in the Famous Americans series with his picture. Gompers enjoyed listening to the services of the Episcopal
National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
which memorialized him on a stained glass window.


Works

* ''Seventy Years of Life and Labor: An Autobiography''. In two volumes. New York: E.P. Dutton and Co., 1925
vol 2 onlinevol1-2 online
* ''Samuel Gompers Papers''. Stuart Bruce Kaufman, Peter J. Albert, and Grace Palladino (eds.) In twelve volumes. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989–2010.


Other books and pamphlets

* ''Address of Samuel Gompers, Before the Arbitration Conference, Held at Chicago, Ill. Dec. 17, 1900, Under the Auspices of the National Civic Federation''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1901. * * ''Organized Labor: Its Struggles, Its Enemies and Fool Friends''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d.
904 __NOTOC__ Year 904 ( CMIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * July 29 – Sack of Thessalonica: A Muslim fleet, led by the Greek ren ...
* ''Essence of Labor's Contention on the Injunction Abuse''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1908. * ''Speech Delivered October 13, 1908, at Dayton, Ohio''. Denver: Carson-Harper, n.d.
908 __NOTOC__ Year 908 ( CMVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 15 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor L ...
* ''Justice Wright's Denial of Free Speech and Free Press''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1909.
''Labor in Europe and America: Personal Observations from an American Viewpoint of Life and Conditions of Working Men in Great Britain, France, Holland, Germany, Italy, ... [etc.]''.
New York: Harper Brothers, 1910. * ''The McNamara Case; Also, an Appeal for Funds to Secure a Fair and Impartial Trial''. n.c. ashington, D.C. McNamara Ways and Means Committee, n.d. [1911].
''Investigation of Taylor System of Shop Management: Hearings before...''
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1911. * ''The American Labor Movement: Its Makeup, Achievements and Aspirations''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d.
914 __NOTOC__ Year 914 ( CMXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Empress Zoe Karbonopsina leads a palace coup at Constantino ...
* ''The Attitude of the American Federation of Labor toward Industrial Education''. New York: C.S. Nathan, n.d.
914 __NOTOC__ Year 914 ( CMXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Empress Zoe Karbonopsina leads a palace coup at Constantino ...
* ''The Essence of the Clayton Law''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d.
914 __NOTOC__ Year 914 ( CMXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Empress Zoe Karbonopsina leads a palace coup at Constantino ...

''The Double Edge of Labor's Sword: Discussion and Testimony on socialism and Trade-Unionism before the Commission on Industrial Relations''
With
Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hil ...
and Max S. Hayes. Chicago: Socialist Party National Office, 1914. * ''Labor and Antitrust Legislation: The Facts, Theory and Argument: A Brief and Appeal''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1914. * ''The Workers and the Eight-Hour Workday; And, the Shorter Workday: Its Philosophy''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d. 915
''Preparedness for National Defense: An Address Delivered before the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the National Civic Federation on January 18, 1916, at Washington...''
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1916. * ''America's Fight for the Preservation of Democracy: An Address Delivered by Samuel Gompers at Minneapolis, Minn.: And the Declaration of Principles''. n.c. ashington, D.C. American Alliance for Labor and Democracy, 1917. * ''Address by Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor: Under the Auspices of the National Security League at Chicago, September 14, 1917''. New York: National Security League, 1917.
''Should a Political Labor Party be Formed? An address by Samuel Gompers... to a labor conference held at New York city, December 9, 1918''
Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1918. * ''Labour and the War: Speeches Delivered in the Canadian House of Commons, April 26, 1918, and Before the Canadian Club, Ottawa, April 27, 1918''. Ottawa: overnment publication 1918.
''American Labor and the War''
New York: G. H. Doran, 1919.
''Labor and the Common Welfare''
New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1919. * ''Labor and the Employer''. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1920. * ''Collective Bargaining: Labor's Proposal to Insure Greater Industrial Peace: With Questions and Answers Explaining the Principle''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1920.
''Debate between Samuel Gompers and Henry J. Allen at Carnegie Hall, New York, May 28, 1920''
With Harry Justin Allen. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1920. * ashington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, ''The Eight-Hour Workday: Its Inauguration, Enforcement, and Influences'' Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d.
920 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byza ...
* ''Labor's Protest against a Rampant Tragedy''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1920. * ''Samuel Gompers on the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations Law: "Laws to make strikes unlawful will not prevent them."'' Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1920. * ''Letters to a Bishop: Correspondence between Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor, and Bishop William A. Quayle, of the Methodist Episcopal Church''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1920. * ''The Union Shop and Its Antithesis''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1920. * ''The Truth about Soviet Russia and Bolshevism''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d.
920 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byza ...

''Out of Their Own Mouths: A Revelation and an Indictment of Sovietism''
With
William English Walling William English Walling (1877–1936) (known as "English" to friends and family) was an American labor reformer and Socialist Republican born into a wealthy family in Louisville, Kentucky. He founded the National Women's Trade Union League in 1903 ...
. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1921. * ''The Fundamental Issues: Present Industrial Controversies an Expression of Vital Conflict between Industry and Finance''. New York: New York Times, 1922. * ''Correspondence between Mr. Newton D. Baker, President of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce and Mr. Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor''. With
Newton D. Baker Newton Diehl Baker Jr. (December 3, 1871 – December 25, 1937) was an American lawyer, Georgist,Noble, Ransom E. "Henry George and the Progressive Movement." The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 8, no. 3, 1949, pp. 259–269. w ...
. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, 1923. * ''Address of Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor: Before the Convention of the United Hatters of North America, New York City, April 16, 1923''. Washington, D.C.: American Federation of Labor, n.d. 923


Articles

* "The Limitations of Conciliation and Arbitration", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 20 (July 1902), pp. 29–34
in JSTOR
* "Organized Labor's Attitude toward Child Labor", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 27 (March 1906), pp. 79–83
in JSTOR
* "Attitude of Labor towards Government Regulation of Industry", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 32 (July 1908), pp. 75–81
in JSTOR
* "Free Speech and the Injunction Order", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 36, no. 2 (September 1910), pp. 1–10
in JSTOR
* "European War Influences upon American Industry and Labor", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 61, (September 1915), pp. 4–10
in JSTOR
* "Labor Standards after the War", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 81 (January 1919), pp. 182–186
in JSTOR
* "The Development and Accessibility of Production Records Essential to Intelligent and Just Determination of Wage-Rates", ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'', vol. 100 (March 1922), pp. 54–55
in JSTOR


Footnotes


Further reading

* Babcock, Robert H., ''Gompers in Canada: A Study in American Continentalism before the First World War''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974. * Bernstein, Irving, ''The Lean Years: A History of the American Worker, 1920–1933''. 1960. * Bernstein, Irving
"Samuel Gompers and Free Silver, 1896"
''Mississippi Valley Historical Review'', vol, 29, no. 3 (December 1942). * Buhle, Paul, ''Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland, and the Tragedy of American Labor''. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999
online
* Currarino, Rosanne, "The Politics of 'More': The Labor Question and the Idea of Economic Liberty in Industrial America". ''Journal of American History''. 93:1 (June 2006). lease remove this after checking. Changed the publication year 2003->2006 Link: http://archive.oah.org/issues/issues/931/index.html the first article. IK * Foner, Philip S. ''History of the Labor Movement in the United States''. In 10 volumes. New York: International Publishers, 1947–1991. * Greene, Julie. ''Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881–1917''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. * Grubbs, Jr. Frank L. ''The Struggle for Labor Loyalty: Gompers, the A. F. of L., and the Pacifists, 1917–1920''. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1968. * Livesay, Harold C. ''Samuel Gompers and Organized Labor in America''. Boston: Addison-Wesley , 1987
online
short scholarly summary * Laslett, John H.M. "Samuel Gompers and the Rise of American Business Unionism." in ''Labor Leaders in America'' (1987): 62-88
online
* Mandel, Bernard, ''Samuel Gompers: A Biography''. New York: Penguin Group, 1963
online
a major scholarly biography * Mandel, Bernard
"Gompers and Business Unionism, 1873–1890"
''Business History Review''. 28:3 (September 1954). * Mandel, Bernard
"Samuel Gompers and the Negro Workers, 1886–1914"
''Journal of Negro History''. vol. 40, no. 1 (January 1955). * Mink, Gwendolyn, ''Old Labor and New Immigrants in American Political Development: Union, Party, and State, 1875–1920''. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1986. * Montgomery, David, ''The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865–1925''. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1987. * Reed, Louis, ''The Labor Philosophy of Samuel Gompers''. Columbia University Press, 1930. * Taft, Philip, ''The A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers''. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1957
online
* Van Tine, Warren R., ''The Making of the Labor Bureaucrat: Union Leadership in the United States, 1870–1920''. 1973. * Whittaker, William George
"Samuel Gompers, Anti-Imperialist"
''Pacific Historical Review''. vol. 38, no. 4 (November 1969).


Primary sources

*Gompers, Samuel. ''Seventy Years of Life and Labor'' (1925, 1985 reprint)
online
*Gompers, Samuel. ''The Samuel Gompers Papers'' edited by Stuart B. Kaufman, Peter J. Albert, and Grace Palladino. (University of Illinois Press, 1986–2013). The definitive edition of all important letters to and from Gompers. Published in 12 volumes; index in vol 13
partly online
Also note The index i


External links

*

, University of Maryland, College Park.—Includes index to published volumes of Gompers' papers. * Samuel Gompers

1925 * Samuel Gompers
"Labor's Service to Freedom"
1918 audio recording, Library of Congress, American Memory Project.
''Samuel Gompers Papers'' Project collection
at the
University of Maryland libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an of ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gompers, Samuel 1850 births 1924 deaths People educated at JFS (school) American Federation of Labor people American trade union leaders American people of Dutch-Jewish descent Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Cigar makers British emigrants to the United States English Jews English people of Dutch-Jewish descent Georgists 19th-century American people Activists from New York City Trade unionists from New York (state) People from the Lower East Side People from Dupont Circle Jewish American trade unionists American anti-communists 20th-century American people Council of National Defense