Samuel Gompers Memorial

Samuel Gompers Memorial

NPS / Kelsey Graczyk

Quick Facts

Location:

Washington, DC

Amenities

3 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Public Transit, Wheelchair Accessible

The Samuel Gompers Memorial honors one of the most influential figures in the history of the American labor movement and reflects the ideals he championed throughout his life. Samuel Gompers was born in London in 1850 to a working-class Jewish family and immigrated to New York City as a teenager, where he became a skilled cigar maker and was drawn into the growing labor movement. Through decades of organizing, advocacy, and negotiation, Gompers emerged as the leading voice of American trade unionism. In 1886 he became the first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), a position he held almost continuously until his death in 1924. Under his leadership, the AFL grew into the nation’s dominant labor organization (growing from 50,000 to more than three million members), promoting collective bargaining, improved wages and working conditions, and the belief that workers could advance their interests through unity and voluntary association rather than revolutionary politics.

Following Gompers’s death, labor leaders sought a national memorial that would recognize both the man and the broader struggle for workers’ rights. Congress authorized the memorial in 1928, and the American Federation of Labor raised the funds necessary to commission the work. The memorial was designed by sculptor Rober Ingersoll Aitken, one of the leading American artists of the period, and was dedicated in 1933 in a ceremony attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and prominent labor figures. Its location, at a small triangular reservation at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, 10th Street, and L Street NW, placed the monument within the civic fabric of the capital rather than among the more traditional memorial landscapes of the National Mall.

Rather than a simple portrait statue, the memorial takes the form of a complex allegorical ensemble in bronze and stone. At its center is a seated figure of Gompers, portrayed in middle age, contemplative and dignified, with papers resting on his lap, an image that emphasizes leadership through reasoned debate and persistent advocacy. Surrounding him are allegorical figures representing the values and goals of the labor movement, including justice, education, unity, cooperation, and the protection of home and family. These figures suggest that Gompers’ work extended beyond wages and hours to encompass broader social ideals and the dignity of working people. Inscriptions drawn from Gompers’s own words reinforce this message, expressing his belief in democracy, solidarity, and the power of organized labor to improve lives.

Today, the Samuel Gompers Memorial stands as both a tribute to an individual and a symbolic representation of the American labor movement’s place in national history. Its Beaux-Arts-influenced design and thoughtful symbolism reflect the era in which it was created, while its message remains relevant to ongoing conversations about work, fairness, and collective action.