Eugene V. Debs Home

The Eugene V. Debs House, on the campus of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, was a home of union leader Eugene V. Debs. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Eugene V. Debs and his wife, Kate, built the two-story frame house in 1890, after their fifth wedding anniversary. Debs was criticized for the house not portraying working-class lifestyle; his wife was a beneficiary of her wealthy aunt's will and could furnish the house affluently. Visitors to Debs' house during his lifetime included friends James Whitcomb Riley and Carl Sandburg; one room in the house to this day is known as the Riley bedroom. When Debs died in 1926, a funeral sermon was given for him at the house, attended by 5000 people.

Original features of the house include the cobalt blue porcelain tile fireplace imported from Italy, the mahogany dining and parlor furniture, and the entire set of Haviland china. The house is also a museum, with many memorabilia of Debs' life and some of his personal library, much of which is across the street at the library of Indiana State University. One room is covered by murals depicting Debs' life.

Eugene V. Debs

Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

Early in his political career, Debs was a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected as a Democrat to the Indiana General Assembly in 1884. After working with several smaller unions, including the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, Debs was instrumental in the founding of the American Railway Union (ARU), one of the nation's first industrial unions. After workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company organized a wildcat strike over pay cuts in the summer of 1894, Debs signed many into the ARU. He called a boycott of the ARU against handling trains with Pullman cars, in what became the nationwide Pullman Strike, affecting most lines west of Detroit, and more than 250,000 workers in 27 states. To keep the mail running, President Grover Cleveland used the United States Army to break the strike. As a leader of the ARU, Debs was convicted of federal charges for defying a court injunction against the strike and served six months in prison.