Archive of Letters and Ephemera sent to his Wife, Gertrude Gleaves Gompers

33 items and scrapbook. As a young activist in the Cigarmakers International Union in the 1870s, Samuel Gompers began to work for the economic betterment of the working class, advocating for higher wages, better working conditions, shorter hours, and a range of benefits, from sick leave to unemployment insurance. Organization, cooperative action, political engagement, and collective bargaining, he reasoned, were the best means of securing economic betterment for workers, and he saw organization across the trades as being the ticket to success. With this in mind, Gompers helped found the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881 as a vehicle for organizing on a large scale, which five years later became the American Federation of Labor. Gompers served as president almost continuously until his death. As President of the AFL, Gompers became the face of the organized labor movement in the United States. In 1921, Gompers married a younger women, Gertrude Gleaves, who less than three years after their wedding, was left a widow. This scrapbook and collection of correspondence emanates from Gertrude Gompers' marriage to Samuel and her efforts to commemorate her husband, and includes 12 affectionate ALsS from Samuel, 1921-1923, a biographical memoir; and three letters (1951) from Gertrude. The scrapbook contains letters received by Gertrude Gompers from the time of their marriage in 1921 until Samuel's death in 1924. The first several items, all pasted onto black photo album pages, are letters of congratulation on their marriage, but the bulk of the album consists of letters of condolence, most of which are telegrams transcribed by the receiving office, many from important figures such as Louis Wiley of the New York Times and international labor leaders of all stripes. Senator Robert La Follette, for one, wrote The shadow of that death is in the home of every toiler throughout the civilized world. Your grief is theirs. They too will cherish his memory for all time. Bernard Baruch was even more effusive: I think he achieved high honor in three ways he was a true humanist which helped to make him a great labor leader he was a true warrior not only for our national cause but in the field of the protection of human rights and third he was a tower of strength against the encroachments of the communists whose fight against property was seen by him as taking on a tyranny that threatened the peace and happiness of the world. An unsigned telegram is perhaps the most poignant: Weep with you over your great dead man Gompers. Finally, the album ends with a TLS from Calvin Coolidge on White House stationery, also pasted into the album. The loose letters in the collection relate largely to Gertrude's efforts to obtain reminiscences about her husband or support of various kinds from the powerful and famous, often relating to a biography she planned to write on Samuel. Among the respondents are TLsS from Senators Robert La Follette and James Davis, 1943; Congressmen Joseph C. Baldwin (2) and Sol Bloom; ALsS to GG reminiscing about Gompers from Johnston Forbers-Robertson and William Lyon Phelps; 2 other letters regarding her biography. Typical of these letters is one from Gov. William H. Murray of Oklahoma, 1932, regarding labor troubles and Gompers' frustrations with the class of fellows -- radicals -- who are unreasonable and do not really understand the fundamentals of our movement. As might be expected, a number of important labor leaders offered support, assistance, or praise, among these a TLS from Walter Reuther, 1952; TLS from John Lewis (UMWA), 1942; and W.A. Appleton (General Federal of Trade Unions, 1932). Frank Morrison of the AFL, 1932, writes a particularly nice letter regarding Gompers' opposition to capital punishment. Also included are typed transcriptions of several letters from eminent persons, including Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, John J. Pershing, Newton Baker, Giuseppe Marconi, and more, all lauding Gompers' ca.…