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AFL president Samuel Gompers
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Portrait of Samuel Gompers (1850-1924), first President of the American Federation of Labor, 1886-1894, 1896-1924. On photo, inscribed 'Faithfully yours, Saml. Gompers.'

Credit: The American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Terence Vincent Powderly Photographic Prints

Gompers was president of the American Federation of Labor from 1886 until his death in 1924. An eloquent speaker, he would explain, "Our movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people. There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire . . . . there is not a wrong too long endured that we are not determined to abolish."

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