CC0 · no rights reserved
Samuel Gompers
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Samuel Gompers was the founder and first president of the American Federation of Labor. Born in England in 1850, he moved to the United States when he was thirteen and worked as a cigar maker. He was involved with the labor movement as a youth and saw the need for a national association of unions. Under his leadership, the AFL set a limit on child labor, ensured fixed hours for the working day, and established Labor Day as the workingman’s holiday. In 1925, Moses Dykaar presented the marble version of this bust to the AFL on behalf of the Cloth Cap and Fur Workers unions.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineSamuel Gompers. 1924. Moses Wainer Dykaar, born Vilna, Russia 1884-died New York City 1933. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist. CC0.
