Samuel Gompers is one of those names you vaguely remember from AP U.S. History, along with The Grange and the Know-Nothings. They fit in somehow, but you don't exactly remember why. While he may not be on the tips of people's tongues, he does have a rather large monument on Massachusetts Avenue NW near Mount Vernon Square.

Gompers, born in London in 1850, was a major figure in the American labor movement, organizing and serving as president of the American Federation of Labor, which later merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations to form the AFL-CIO.

At the AFL, Gompers mainly focused on legislation directly involved with working, such as eight hour days, and he also allied the AFL with the Democrats and fought against Socialism and radicalism in the labor movement. This brought him some foes on the left, who later formed their own more leftist unions like the Industrial Workers of the World.

His large monument, located on Massachusetts Avenue NW between 10th and 11th Streets in a triangle called Samuel Gompers Park, features an about twice life size Gompers, dressed in modern clothes and sitting in a chair. The bronze sculpture is on a tall granite base, and he's surrounded allegorical figures reading and shaking hands, who symbolize education, justice, cooperation and unity. There's also a steam engine included in the sculpture symbolizing industry, and the base has inscriptions from Gompers' speeches. The monument is ironically across the street from the libertarian Cato Institute.

Photo by Cowtools

Gompers died in 1924 after an organizing trip to Mexico. The monument was dedicated in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt, who gave a speech talking about his friendship with the labor organizer.

Gompers had a long career as a labor advocate and organizer, and was nominated by both the Democrats and Republicans to run for the state senate in New York, but he declined. In 1908, Gompers' AFL met with both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. While the Republican convention didn't accept any of the AFL's recommendations, such as support for an eight hour day, the Democrats did, helping to start the party's long affiliation with organized labor. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened if the group's proposals had been accepted by the pro-business Republicans.

Gompers was also part of two cases before the Supreme Court regarding a company that received an injunction to prevent a strike. Gompers and colleagues were found guilty of ignoring the injunction twice, but both times the Supreme Court overturned the rulings. Today Gompers's papers are at the University of Maryland.

The monument's sculptor, Robert Ingersoll Aitken, had a number of commissions in Washington, including the interesting "Past" and "Future" sculptures at the National Archives and the the west pediment (pdf) of the Supreme Court, above the entrance. Aitken also sculpted the Admiral George Dewey Memorial in San Francisco, the pretty tough looking "Iron Mike" at the Parris Island Marine base in South Carolina, and many other sculptures and monuments around the country.