This is the first in a five volume series that will collect much of trade unionist and Socialist Party founding father Eugene V. Debs’ work for the first time in a single place. The collection makes readily accessible approximately 150 documents, only a few of which were ever subsequently republished, by one of the seminal figures in the labor movement of his era. Illuminating 19th Century labor history, particularly the complex and shifting situation in the transportation industry, this volume provides a basis for deeper understanding of Debs and his role later during the glory days of the Socialist Party of America.

The three volumes of Debs's correspondence contain more than 1,500 of the 10,000 extant letters to and from Debs during his controversial lifetime. J. Roberts Constantine spent more than a dozen years compiling, editing, and annotating this collection. Reading Debs's correspondence with the leaders and foot soldiers of the major social movements of his time helps trace the progress of such struggles as woman suffrage, prison reform, abolition of child labor, early attacks on Jim Crow laws, and opposition to war.

Eugene V. Debs: Socialist for President, first published in 1962, is a fascinating account of the heady days of American socialism in the early 1900s, the five campaigns of its dogged leader Eugene Debs, and the struggles of the labor movement. Included are 8 pages of illustrations.