Eugene V. Debs
1855-1926
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"Years ago, I recognized my kinship with all living
things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on
earth...While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal
element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
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Labor leader, radical,
Socialist, presidential candidate, Eugene Victor Debs was a homegrown American
original. He formed the American Railway Union, led the Pullman strike of the
1890's in which he was jailed, and emerged a dedicated Socialist. An
idealistic, impassioned fighter for economic and social justice, he was
brilliant, eloquent and eminently human. As a "radical" he fought for women's
suffrage, workmen's compensation, pensions and social security -- all
commonplace today. Five times the Socialist candidate for president, his last
campaign was run from federal prison where he garnered almost a million votes.
 Eugene V. Debs reading list.
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