Gompers, Samuel, 1850-1924

William Jennings Bryan as Orpheus, singing and playing a lyre labeled “Harmony,” attracts a motley group of wild animals identified as: G. Gray, Kern, Folk, Gompers, McCarren, Mitchell, Hearst, Guffey, Watterson, Stone, Eliot, Williams, T. Johnson, Belmont, Sullivan, Pulitzer, Conners, Ryan, Parker, Murphy, and Johnson. One unidentified animal, similar to Williams, sits in a large tree, crawling through the branches above Bryan. Caption: Orpheus Bryan and the Democratic beasts.

comments and context

Comments and Context

Orpheus was not in the underworld, but cartoonist Udo J. Keppler made the dismal swamp seem almost as pleasant in this loosely constructed allegory. The portly and unheroic-looking William Jennings Bryan had a heroic task, nonetheless, to tame the various and potentially deadly creatures.

President Roosevelt believes that the effort to restrict immigration will be good for the country, although it could be politically harmful. Roosevelt spoke with several priests who support restrictions as they are having a difficult time keeping so many Catholic immigrants active in the Church. He is concerned about Representative Gardner’s fight with Mr. Schofield and surprised at Samuel Gompers’s attitude towards eight hour restrictions at the Panama Canal Zone.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1906-09-04

In his speech, Theodore Roosevelt discusses his record with labor and the Adamson Law. Roosevelt makes a comparison of his own handling of the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike with President Woodrow Wilson’s more recent dealings with labor. The speech also mentions major leaders in labor affairs, including Samuel Gompers and Mexican President Venustiano Carranza.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1916-10-14

A large cannon labeled “Violence” explodes out the back end, catching John J. McNamara, James B. McNamara, Samuel Gompers, and possibly Clarence Darrow in the blast. Two large cannon shells labeled “Murder” and “Dynamiting” lie on the ground on the left.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1911-12-27

At center, Samuel Gompers stands on a platform, pointing to a sign with a whip labeled “Expulsion.” The sign states “To Organized Labor / Defend your persecuted brethren. Put up, or lose your union card.” He is holding a hat into which union members, entering from the left, are depositing money. To the right, behind Gompers, the money, in the form of “Dynamite,” drops through a hole in the top of the hat to the platform where union thugs grab it. Beyond them are explosions labeled “Organized Murder.” Caption: What went into it and what came out of it.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912-02-07

President Roosevelt congratulates his daughter Alice on the campaign she and her husband Nicholas Longworth ran. Roosevelt is happy how well the Republicans did in the Congressional elections, riding “iron-shod over Gompers and the labor agitators” and says having Frank R. Gooding elected Governor of Idaho is a big victory over “those Western Federation of Miners scoundrels.”

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1906-11-07

Marcus M. Marks discusses the Republican situation for the 1904 presidential campaign. Marks writes about a potential industrial depression, the economic impact of labor strikes, and the liberalization of liquor laws in New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-23

J. H. Woodard believes that President Roosevelt was tricked by Samuel Gompers and John Mitchell into stating that he favored union employees. Woodard views favoring union members as violating the idea that all citizens are equal before the law, both privately and in employment. Woodard implores Roosevelt to meet the issue “bravely and upon the broad grounds of justice.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-10-04

Draft of a news release regarding a meeting between President Roosevelt and labor leaders to discuss the case of William A. Miller.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-29

The secretary of the New York Canal Improvement State Committee, John Appleton Stewart, requests President Roosevelt’s assistance in encouraging state Republicans to support the canal improvement proposition.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-27

The National Labor Tribune is not prepared to select a side in the dispute between the Roosevelt administration and the Central Labor Union regarding the Miller case. The Tribune is dedicated to the labor union principle but believes that President Roosevelt is a friend to working people.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903

Note card with Samuel Gompers written on it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-15

William Williams claims to have information regarding Samuel Gompers that he will provide to President Roosevelt if Gompers is ever being considered for an appointment. The source is “of so confidential a character” that Williams does not want to send the information unless Roosevelt requires it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-10-15

Samuel Gompers met with President Roosevelt to discuss labor policy and protest the arrest of Santiago Iglesias Pantin in Puerto Rico. Iglesias Pantin had been sent by Gompers to organize the labor movement in Puerto Rico.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-11