Spirit of America Bookstore
Samuel Gompers
[1850-1924]
![portrait of labor leader Samuel Gompers [1850-1924], circa 1920](images/SamuelGompers-portrait.jpg) | short profile |
"And what have our unions done? What do they aim to do? To improve the standard of life, to uproot ignorance and foster education, to instill character, manhood and independent spirit among our people; to bring about a recognition of the interdependence of man upon his fellow man. We aim to establish a normal work-day, to take the children from the factory and workshop and give them the opportunity of the school and the play-ground. In a word, our unions strive to lighten toil, educate their members, make their homes more cheerful, and in every way contribute an earnest effort toward making life the better worth living." - in 1912
"The trade union movement represents the organized economic power of the workers. Through the development, the organization, and the exercise of this economic power the workers themselves establish higher standards of living and work. Although this economic power from the superficial standpoint appears indirect, it is in reality the most potent and the most direct social insurance [that] the workers can establish."
— Samuel Gompers
"What does labor want? We want more school houses and less jails. More books and less guns. More learning and less vice.
More leisure and less greed. More justice and less revenge. We want more . . . opportunities to cultivate our better natures."
B I O
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Primary Works
browse books by Samuel Gompers at Amazon
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"Striking For Life: Labor's Side of The Labor Question - The Right of The Workingman To A Fair Living"
[American Mfg. & Publng Co. 1894] by Samuel Gompers, Eugene V. Debs, John Swinton & John William Hayes
"Labor In Europe and America" [1910] by Samuel Gompers
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Europe-America-Samuel-Gompers/dp/1112329218/
"Labor and The Common Welfare" [E.P. Dutton & Co., 1919] by Samuel Gompers
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-common-welfare-copy-1/dp/B008SRDJJ6/
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Common-Welfare-Samuel-Gompers/dp/B00AZT060A/
"Labor and The Employer" [1920] by Samuel Gompers
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-employer-Samuel-Gompers/dp/B0006AIC54/
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Employer-Essay-Index-Reprint/dp/0405029217/
"Out of Their Own Mouths: A Revelation and An Indictment of Sovietism" [1921] by William English Walling & Samuel Gompers
http://www.amazon.com/Out-Their-Own-Mouths-Revelation/dp/B00ASV0M04/
"Seventy Years of Life and Labor: An Autobiography" [Cornell Univ Press 1925] by Samuel Gompers
http://www.amazon.com/Years-Life-Labor-Press-books/dp/0875461093/
http://www.amazon.com/Seventy-Years-Life-Labor-Autobiography/dp/B000YH61RA/
http://www.amazon.com/Anos-Vida-Trabajo-Ediciones-Europa/dp/B00B2CY9RK/
"The Voluntary Basis of Trade Unionism" [1925] by Samuel Gompers
http://www.amazon.com/Voluntary-Basis-Trade-Unionism/dp/B002WX32V2/
"Samuel Gompers' Credo: Quotations From His Speeches and Writings" [1950])
Compiled by American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers Centennial Committee
"The Samuel Gompers Papers" multi-volume edition [University of Illinois Press, 1989-2010]
Edited by Stuart Bruce Kaufman, Peter J. Albert & Grace Palladino
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-1850-86/dp/0252011376/ = V1
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-Federation/dp/0252013506/ = 2
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-Depression/dp/0252015460/ = 3
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-National/dp/0252017684/ = 4
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-Expanding/dp/0252020081/ = 5
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-Progressivism/dp/025202303X/ = 6
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-Federation/dp/0252023803/ = 7
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-vol-Progress/dp/0252025644/ = 8
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-Vol-Federation/dp/0252030419/ = 10
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-11-Postwar/dp/0252033892/ = 11
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-12-1922-24/dp/0252035356/
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Papers-13-Cumulative/dp/0252037421/
"The Samuel Gompers Papers Project" website at University of Maryland in College Park
http://www.history.umd.edu/Gompers/index.htm
Movies, Plays, Other Media
nothing on IBDb, nothing useful on IMDb
"Samuel Gompers, The World's Greatest Labor Leader" [Kellum Talking Picture Company 1921]
b&w sound short of a speech by Gompers • DVD/Blu-ray not available •
bare credits at IMDb
http://www.amazon.com/American-Federationist-28-Part-1/dp/1276945043/
http://www.amazon.com/Index-Contents-American-Federationist-1894-1914/dp/B002TW31MQ/
Works About Samuel Gompers
browse books about Samuel Gompers at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/American-Federation-1848-1896-Contributions-Economics/dp/0837162777/
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Champion-Toiling-Masses/dp/0374937303/
"Samuel Gompers Leader of American Labor" [] by Will Chasan (Author), B&W photos (Illustrator)
"The Giant Wakes: A Novel About Samuel Gompers" [] by Rupert Hughes(1950)
http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Wakes-Rupert-Hughes/dp/0875051324/
"Samuel gompers: American Statesman" [] by Florence Calvert Thorne
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-gompers-Florence-Calvert-Thorne/dp/0806530766/
"American Labor and the War" [G.H. Doran, 1919]
"The Labor Philosophy of Samuel Gompers" [Columbia Univ Press, 1930] by Louis Reed
http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Philosophy-Samuel-Gompers-Louis/dp/B001CEPCYC/
"Samuel Gompers: A Biography" [1963] by Mandel
"Samuel Gompers" [1965] by Bernard Mandel
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Bernard-Mandel/dp/B000H7RU9K/
"Illustrious Americans: Samuel Gompers" [1966] by Bernard A. Weisberger
http://www.amazon.com/Illustrious-Americans-Gompers-Bernard-Weisberger/dp/B0041U1WXO/
"The Struggle for Labor Loyalty: Gompers, the A. F. of L., and the Pacifists, 1917–1920" [1968] by Frank L. Grubbs
"The A. F. of L. In The Time of Gompers" & "The A. F. of L. From The Death of Gompers To The Merger"
2-volume set [1970] by Philip Taft
"Samuel Gompers Leader of American Labor" [1971] by Will Chasan (Author), B&W photos
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Leader-American-Labor/dp/B000IQ99XA/
"A Pictorial History of American Labor" [1972] by William Cahn
"Samuel Gompers and the Origins of the American Federation of Labor, 1848-1896" [Oct 1973] by Stuart Bruce Kaufman
http://www.amazon.com/American-Federation-1848-1896-Contributions-Economics/dp/0837162777/
"Gompers in Canada: A Study in American Continentalism before the First World War" [1974] by Robert H. Babcock
"Samuel Gompers and Organized Labor In America" [Addison-Wesley 1987] by Harold C. Livesay
http://www.amazon.com/Samuel-Gompers-Organized-Labor-America/dp/088133751X/
"History of the Labor Movement in the United States: The T.U.E.L. to the End of the Gompers Era"
[International Publrs Co, 1991] by Philip S. Foner
"Pure and Simple Politics: The American Federation of Labor and Political Activism, 1881-1917"
[Cambridge Univ Press, June 1998] by Julie Greene
http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Simple-Politics-Federation-Political/dp/0521433983/
"Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland, and The Tragedy of American Labor"
[Monthly Review Press, 1999] by Paul Buhle
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Care-Business-Kirkland-American/dp/1583670033/
"The Story of Samuel Gompers and American Labor for Kids" [10/2011] by Jonathan Madden
http://www.amazon.com/Story-Samuel-Gompers-American-ebook/dp/B005ZJUPSI/
Family & Friends
first wife Sophia Julian Gompers [1851-1920], married January 1867 to May 1920
six children that survived infancy
second wife Gertrude Ainsley Gleaves Neuscheler Gompers [1881-1953], married April 1921, widowed 1924
http://unknownmisandry.blogspot.com/2011/09/foe-of-gold-diggers-anti-misandry.html
L i n k s
Samuel Gompers entry at Wikipedia
Samuel Gompers Monument in Washington, DC
listed #61 on The Atlantic Monthly's Top 100 Most Influential Figures in American History [Dec 2006]
Samuel Gompers Vocational Technical High School in Bronx, New York
Samuel Gompers Trades School, San Francisco
USS Samuel Gompers AD-37 Western Pacific Cruise 1986 1987
U.S. commemorative 3¢ Samuel Gompers postage stamp issued 27 January 1950
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