TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY: 2/27/2026
Harold Phillips | Published on 2/27/2026
1875: Legendary labor leader and socialist presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs becomes charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen. Five years later he is leading the national union and in 1893 helps found the nation’s first industrial union, the American Railway Union.
1902: Birth of John Steinbeck in Salinas, Calif. Steinbeck is best known for writing “The Grapes of Wrath,” which exposed the mistreatment of migrant farm workers during the Depression and led to some reforms.
1937: 450 Woolworth’s workers and customers occupy store for eight days in support of Waiters and Waitresses Union, Detroit.