Author Archives: carrite

As we have seen, Gene Debs was very close to those who organized the Industrial Workers of the World but took a rather casual approach to the new industrial union, delivering a speech at the founding convention before departing to … Continue reading →

The last week of April and the first week of May is a regular and predictable time when my work on Debs slows to a crawl. Real life intervenes in the form of a ten-straight day work schedule; free time … Continue reading →

One of the great memes of the first decade of the twentieth century, if you will excuse my use of that anachronistic phrase, surrounds the term “undesirable citizens,” famously used by President Theodore Roosevelt in reference to labor radicals. That … Continue reading →

Life changed for the 52-year old Eugene Victor Debs in 1907. He changed occupations. He changed living arrangements with his wife. Some might say it was a midlife crisis. The year 1906 had been a whirlwind of speaking engagements, starting … Continue reading →

Those who write about history — historians — are generally not satisfied unless they make a unique mark upon their subject, either uncovering new facts to tell a story in a new way, or reinterpreting old facts to provide a … Continue reading →