Three Photographs of Eugene Debs Speaking at a Railroad Depot

Northeast US, Unknown year. Three photographs, two measuring 5 x 7 inches and one measuring 6 ½ x 8 ½ inches. All with Brown Brothers stamps verso. Portrait marked verso “Eugene V. Debs” with editorial overpainting recto. One other photograph marked verso “Debs speaking to workers”. Excellent contrast. Overall excellent to near fine.. Eugene Debs (1855–1926) was an American Socialist, trade unionist, and five-time presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America—most famously in the 1920 election, when he ran from prison after being convicted of sedition. Debs had a long history with American railroads, starting as a boy when he worked on the Vandalia Railroad and soon after joined the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. This work eventually turned him towards labor organizing, including establishing the American Railway Union; and a stint in prison for this organizing turned him towards socialism.

Offered here are three photographs of Debs at railroad depots (it is unclear whether all three shots show the same station or not): one posed portrait and two of him addressing crowds. In one crowd shot, the Erie Railroad logo is visible on the car behind the rostrum. In the other, a number of men are carrying musical instruments. The time period and context of these photographs is not entirely clear, though Debs appears somewhat elderly.

Of interest to labor historians, particularly of railroad history and Socialist organizing.