Easter Musings: What happened to Pontius Pilate? How did he die?

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.

- Romans 6:9


This Easter, I found myself wondering about the fate of Pontius Pilate, the man who, according to the gospels, presided over the trial of Jesus.  To satisfy my curiosity, I did some research.  This is what I discovered:

Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor or prefect of the Roman province of Judeaa from about 26 A.D. to 36 A.D., during the reign of the emperor Tiberius.  The date off Pilate's birth is not known, but he is believed to have come from the Samnium region of central Italy.  He was not popular with the Jewish population because he hung idolatrous images of the emperor all over Jerusalem,  He also minted coins with pagan symbols on them.

In his capacity as Roman prefect.  Pontius Pilate was responsible for the collection of taxes and overseeing construction activity.  His most important duty, however, was to uphold the law.  Pilate was the supreme judge of the province of Judea.  As such, he was given the sole authority to approve the execution of a criminal.  It was he, according to the scriptures, who convicted Jesus of treason and declared that Jesus considered himself "King of the Jews." (In the Roman Empire, it was seditious to claim to be a king).

According to the Gospel of John, when Pilate questions Jesus as to whether he is a king, Jesus tells him that he born  "to testify to the ."  Pilate replies famously. "What is truth" or "Quid est veritas?" in Latin.

Therefore Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Pilate asked him, "What is 'truth'?" and then he went out to the Jewish leaders again and told them, "I find no basis for a charge against him.  (John 18: 37-38)

In the end, Pilate orders Christ's crucifixion, albeit reluctantly.  According to the Gospel of Matthew, he literally washes his hands of Jesus.  The four canonical gospels relate how there was a Passover tradition in Jerusalem that permitted or obligated the governor of Judea to a death sentence by popular approval.  The crowd is offered a choice between a rebel named Barabbas and Jesus. The people loudly insist upon releasing Barabbas and they demand that Jesus be crucified.  Pilate complies with their wishes.

Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. The 
responsibility is yours. (Matthew 27:24)

Jesus before Pilate

Pilate washing his hands of responsibility for the death of Jesus

According to Josephus, a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and scholar, Pilate was ordered to return to Rome following the death of Tiberius in 37 A.D., after he brutally suppressed a Samaritan uprising.  Encyclopaedia Britannica states that "Josephus’s references appear to be consistent. They seem to picture a headstrong strict authoritarian Roman leader who, although both rational and practical, never knew how far he should go in a given case.  He provoked both Jews and Samaritans to riot."

Josephus wrote that "in order to abolish Jewish laws,"and with the intent of reducing the  privileges Jews had enjoyed, Pilate ordered his troops to camp out in Jerusalem.  They entered the city with images of the emperor bound to their ensigns.  The Jews protested in Caesara, Pilate's place of residence.  He threatened them with death, but they steadfastly demonstrated their willingness to die. In the end, according to Josephus, Pilate relented and removed the images because he was profoundly moved by their steadfast determination to retain their laws.  Below is a passage from the writings of Josephus:

But now Pilate, the procurator of Judea, removed the army from Cesarea to Jerusalem, to take their winter quarters there, in order to abolish the Jewish laws. So he introduced Caesar’s effigies, which were upon the ensigns, and brought them into the city; whereas our law forbids us the very making of images; on which account the former procurators were wont to make their entry into the city with such ensigns as had not those ornaments. Pilate was the first who brought those images to Jerusalem, and set them up there; which was done without the knowledge of the people, because it was done in the nighttime; but as soon as they knew it, they came in multitudes to Cesarea, and interceded with Pilate many days, that he would remove the images; and when he would not grant their requests, because it would tend to the injury of Caesar, while yet they persevered in their request, on the sixth day he ordered his soldiers to have their weapons privately, while he came and sat upon his judgment seat, which seat was so prepared in the open place of the city, that it concealed the army that lay ready to oppress them: and when the Jews petitioned him again, he gave a signal to the soldiers to encompass them round, and threatened that their punishment should be no less than immediate death, unless they would leave off disturbing him, and go their ways home. But they threw themselves upon the ground, and laid their necks bare, and said they would take their death very willingly, rather than the wisdom of their laws should be transgressed; upon which Pilate was deeply affected with their firm resolution to keep their laws inviolable, and presently commanded the images to be carried back from Jerusalem to Cesarea.

What do we know about Ponious Pilate's personal life?  Well, according to the Gospel of Matthew, he had a wife.  (Matthew 27:19). Tradition holds that her name was Claudia Procula.  In Matthew's account, she warns her husband to disassociate himself from Jesus because of his innocence.

While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."

In the Christian Bible, there is no information about Ponriua Pilate's parents and no mention of any children.  Pilate died circa 39 A.D. under mysterious circumstances.  According to some accounts, he was sent into exile and committed suicide of his own volition.  However, Eusebius of Caesara's Ecclesiastical History states that Pilate killed himself under orders from Caiss (Emperor Caligula, who succeeded Tiberius as Roman emperor in 37 A.D).  Eusebus, referring to earlier apocryphal accounts, wrote the following:

It is worthy of note that Pilate himself, who was governor in the time of our Saviour, is reported to have fallen into such misfortune under Caius, whose times we are recording, that he was forced to become his own murderer and executioner, and thus divine vengeance, as it seems, was not long in overtaking him.  This is stated by those Greek historians who have recorded the Olympiads, together with the respective events which have taken place in each period.



END NOTES

* Some Christian churches continue  to uphold an early church tradition that looked favourably upon Pontius Pilate.  The Eastern Orthodox church believes that Pilate and his wife eventually converted to Christianity.  The couple are actually venerated in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewhedo Church and their feast day falls on June 25th.

* The Pilate Stone, an artifact discovered in 1961 by Italian archaeologist, Dr. Antonio Frova, bears the name of Pontius Pilate in Latin. The partially damaged block of limestone also contains an inscription that links Pilate  to the reign of Tiberius.  It was uncovered at the archaeological site of Caesarea Maritima, believed to be where Pilate was headquartered.  He likely only journeyed to Jerusalem, the heart of the province's Jewish population,when necessary.

The Pilate Stone is evidence of Pontius Pilate's historical existence.  It is presently located at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Below is a photo of a replica of the stone that can be found at Caesarea Maritima.

                                             Photo Attribution: Marion Doss


* It's difficult to know what to make of Pontius Pilate, although he is an intriguing figure.  Was he a tyrant who ruthlessly suppressed rebellions.  Was he weak and vacillating, as he is portrayed in the gospels, or was he just trying to do his job as governor of Judea?  There are more questions than answers.

EDITORS UPDATE (December 1, 2018):  The name of Pontius Pilate has been identified on a 2,000- year-old copper alloy ring.  The ring was actually found in the late 1960s, one of numerous artifacts discovered in an excavation of Herodium, an ancient fortress or palace, south of Bethlehem, on the West Bank.  It wasn't until recently that researchers were able to decipher the inscription on the ring, using advanced photo technology.  The words read "of Pilates"  in Greek letters, set around  a photo of a wine container known as a krater, a popular motif among Jews in Judea at the time.

According to a November 30, 2018 article in The New York Times by Palko Karasz, the findings were published last week in the Israel Exploration Journal, an Israeli archaeological review.  Researchers believe it is unlikely that the ring belonged to Pilate himself, since it is not elaborate enough for someone of his position and his wealth.  Such simple rings were usually owned by soldiers and lesser officials.  The name "Pilate" was not common in the area at that time.  Archaeologists consider this copper ring to be the second artifact bearing Pilate's name ever to be discovered, after the Pilate Stone.

- Joanne

Batman vs. Superman decor

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice is coming to movie theatres soon.  The infographic below provides ideas on how to makeover your room in a superhero motif.

- Joanne

Pura Vida!: Photos of Costa Rica

I recently visited beautiful Costa Rica ("rich coast" in Spanish).  Here is what I learned, followed by some photos taken during my travels to this amazing Central American country:

*  Costa Rica was under Spanish rule in the 16th century.  It achieved independence as part of the First Mexican Empire and later became a member of the United Provinces of Central America.  In 1847, it became a sovereign republic.

*  After a brief civil war, Costa Rica abolished its army in 1949.  It remains one of the few nations in the world without a standing army.

* A common greeting in Costa Rica is "pura vita," which means "simple life" or "pure life."  It's an expression of the Costa Rican attitude toward living.  Although the phrase is used to say "hello," "goodbye," "everything's fine"  or "it's cool with me," "pura vida" is much more than just a salutation among Costa Ricans.  It is a reflection of a more relaxing and less stressful way of life.

* Costa Rica has a small population.  It is inhabited by about 4.5 million people.  Nearly a quarter of the population lives in the metropolitan area of San Jose, the country's largest city and its capital.

* Recreational hunting is illegal in Costa Rica.  In 2012, it became the first country in the Americas to ban the activity.  

* Costa Rica is renowned for its progressive environmental policies and its people are very close to nature.  In 2006 and 2012, Costa Rica was ranked the best performing nation in the New Economics Foundation's (NEF) Happy Planet Index, which measures environmental sustainability.  The country is scheduled to be the first carbon-neutral country by the year 2021.



Here are some photos from my visit to Costa Rica:

This is a capuchin  or cappuccino monkey, also known as a "white-faced monkey" or "organ grinder monkey."  Found in Cental and South America, these simians are omnivores and eat a variety of food types.  The above photo was taken at the National Park of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.  The photos below are from the National Park too

sloth

The photos below were taken from a boat off the coast Manuel Antonio,

- Joanne

2016 Oscars Quiz

The 88th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016 and will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California.  As you prepare for the big night, why not challenge yourself and try Number 16's sixth annual Oscars quiz.  There are 10 questions.  Good luck!


NUMBER 16 OSCARS QUIZ 2016

1.  Sylvester Stallone's highly successful 1976 boxing film, Rocky, was nominated for 10 Academy Awards.  How many did Oscars did the original Rocky win?

Stallone as Rocky

A.  Rocky swept the 1977 Oscars, winning all 10 of the Academy Awards for which it was nominated.

B.  It won five Oscars.

C.  I won seven Oscars.

D.  It won three Oscars.

E.  It failed to win any of the ten Academy Awards for which it was nominated.



2.  Leonardo DiCaprio has received six Academy Award nominations, but has never won an Oscar. This year, he is nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in The Revenant.  For which movie did Leo win his first Oscar nomination?

A.  The Aviator

B.  What's Eating Gilbert Grape

C.  Blood Diamond

D.  Titanic

E.  Romeo and Juliet



3,  The late Audrey Hepburn was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role five times.  She won once.  For which film did Audrey Hepburn win the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role?

A.  Roman Holiday (1953)

B.  Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

C,  The Nun's Story (1959)

D.  Sabrina (1954)

E.  Wait Until Dark (1968)



4.  Marilyn Monroe never won an Academy Award, but did she ever receive an Oscar nomination?

A.  Yes, Marilyn was nominated for her performance in Bus Stop (1956).

B.  Yes, she was nominated for Niagara (1953) .

C.  Yes, she was nominated for The Prince and the Showgirl. (1957)

D.  Yes, she was nominated for Some Like it Hot (1959).

E.  No, she never received an Oscar nomination.




5.  What was the first colour film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture?

A.  The Wizard of Oz

B.  Ben-Hur

C.  Gone with the Wind

D.  Rebecca

E.  The Grapes of Wrath



6.  Which of these nominated films won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941?

A.  How Green Was My Valley

B.  Citizen Kane

C.  The Maltese Falcon

D.  Here Comes Mr. Jordan

E.  Suspicion



7.  Has any foreign language film won the Academy Award for Best Picture?

A.  Yes, Italian actor, director and screenwriter Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful (1997) won the Best Picture Oscar at the 1999 ceremony.

B.   Yes, the 1938 French language film Grand Illusion won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

C.   Yes, the 1960 Italian film Two Women, starring Sophia Loren, won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1961.

D.  Yes, the 1987 Danish film, Babette's Feast, won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

E.  No.  To date, no foreign language film has won Best Picture.



8.  Who won the Oscar for Best Actor at the 12th Academy Awards, held on February 29, 1940?

A,  James Stewart for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

B.  Robert Donat for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

C.  Clark Gable for Gone with the Wind (1939)

D.  Laurence Olivier for Wuthering Heights (1939)

E.  Mickey Rooney for Babes in Arms (1939)




9.  Has Warren Beatty has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role four times.  Has he ever won?

A.  Yes, he won the Best Actor Award for the movie Reds.

B.  Yes, he won for Bonnie and Clyde.

C.  Yes, he won for Heaven Can Wait.

D.  Yes, he won for Bugsy.

E.  No, Warren Beatty has never won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.



10.   Who was the first woman to host the Oscars?

A.  Celeste Holme

B.  Shirley MacLaine

C.  Claudette Colbert

D.  Liza Minnelli

E.  Whoopi Goldberg

ANSWERS

1.  D

The original Rocky won three Oscars in 1977.  It won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director and Editing.  Sylvester Stallone was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but did not win. Peter Finch was awarded the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar posthumously for his performance in Network.


2.  B

Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.  DiCaprio played Arnie Grape, a boy with developmental handicap, alongside Johnny Depp, who portrayed Arnie's brother, Gilbert Grape.


3,  A

Hepburn and Peck in Roman Holiday

Audrey Hepburn with Oscar for Roman Holiday

In 1954, Audrey Hepburn received the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in the 1953 film Roman Holiday.  She won for her portrayal of a bored and overprotected princess who runs off to Rome and falls in love with an American journalist (Gregory Peck).

Hepburn was nominated for Best Actress in Leading Role for Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Nun's Story, Sabrina and Wait Until Dark, but did not win.  At the Oscar ceremony on March 29, 1993, she was given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award posthumously (she died in January, 1993).  The award was accepted by her son, Sean H. Ferrer,


4.  E

Marilyn Monroe never received an Oscar nomination.  In 1957, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress-Comedy/Musical for Bus Stop, but did not win.  She did, however, win a Golden Globe in 1960 for Best Motion Picture Actress-Comedy/Musical for her performance in Some Like it Hot.  Marilyn was also nominated for two British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards - Best Foreign Actress for The Seven Year Itch in 1956 and Best Foreign Actress for Best Foreign Actress for The Prince and the Showgirl in 1958.


5.  C

Gone with the Wind (1939) was the first colour film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.


6,  A

How Green Was My Valley won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941. Although Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane was nominated for Best Picture, it was not selected in that category. Surprisingly, Citizen Kane only received one Oscar, for Best Original Screenplay.


7.  E.

No.  To date, no foreign language film has won Best Picture.  Life is Beautiful, Grand Illusion, and Babette's Feast were chosen as Best Foreign Language Film, but not Best Picture.  Two Women was not even nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.  However, Sophia Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1961 for her performance in the film.  She was the first person to win the Best Actress Award for a foreign language film.  Roberto Benigni was the second to win for a non-English speaking role (and the first male).  He received an Oscar for Best Actor in Leading Role for Life is Beautiful in 1999.


8,  B

Robert Donat

British actor Robert Donat received the 1939 Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Goodbye, Mr. Chips.  Donat, who did not attend the ceremony, was awarded the Oscar over Clark Gable's portrayal of Rhett Butler in the hugely successful Gone with the Wind.  With the exception of Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, Gone with the Wind swept all the major Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (Victor Fleming), Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel) and Best Screenplay (Sidney Howard).


9.  E.

No.  Warren Beatty has never won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.  He was nominated for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his performances in   Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Heaven Can Wait (1978), Reds (1981) and Bugsy (1991), but did not win.  However, received an Academy Award in the category of Best Director for Reds.  In addition, Beatty was honoured with the Irving C. Thalberg M Thalberg Memorial Award at the Oscars in the year 2000.



10.  C

Claudette Colbert and Paddy Chayefsky at the Oscars in 1956

Actress Claudette Colbert was the first woman to host the Oscars.  She hosted the 28th Academy Awards in 1956 with co-hosts.  Shirley MacLaine co-hosted the 47th Academy Awards in 1975. Celeste Holm co-hosted the 29th Academy Awards in 1957.  Liza Minnelli co-hosted the 55th Academy Awards in 1983.  Whoopi Goldberg has hosted the Oscars four times (1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002), more than any other woman..  She also has the distinction of being the first woman and the first African-American to host the Oscars solo.



- Joanne

The Product Placement Oscars

The Product Placement Oscars by Watches2U.

Throw the Perfect Oscars Party

If you are planning an Oscars party for Sunday, February 28th, here is an infographic with some great suggestions for you.

- Joanne

How to throw the perfect Oscars party infographic by The Rug Seller

For Valentines's Day - More great quotes on love

On Valentine's Day, I enjoy sharing some quotes and reflections about love with you.  Since it's that time of year again, here are some more thoughts about romance just for you.  The first quote I want to share with you is from Bob Marley (1945-1981), famed Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter and musician.  The words are beautiful, but I have to take issue with the first and last lines.  With regard to the first line, I think that people can fall in love again if their soulmate dies.  It may not be exactly the same, but it is a shared intimacy that does not diminish of nullify the previous relationship.  With regard to the last line, no one should regard another human being as his or her "only hope and security." No matter how strongly we love someone, it is unhealthy to be so emotionally dependent on someone else.


Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you've never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more. You share hopes for the future, dreams that will never come true, goals that were never achieved and the many disappointments life has thrown at you. When something wonderful happens, you can’t wait to tell them about it, knowing they will share in your excitement. They are not embarrassed to cry with you when you are hurting or laugh with you when you make a fool of yourself. Never do they hurt your feelings or make you feel like you are not good enough, but rather they build you up and show you the things about yourself that make you special and even beautiful. There is never any pressure, jealousy or competition but only a quiet calmness when they are around. You can be yourself and not worry about what they will think of you because they love you for who you are. The things that seem insignificant to most people such as a note, song or walk become invaluable treasures kept safe in your heart to cherish forever. Memories of your childhood come back and are so clear and vivid it’s like being young again. Colours seem brighter and more brilliant. Laughter seems part of daily life where before it was infrequent or didn’t exist at all. A phone call or two during the day helps to get you through a long day’s work and always brings a smile to your face. In their presence, there’s no need for continuous conversation, but you find you’re quite content in just having them nearby. Things that never interested you before become fascinating because you know they are important to this person who is so special to you. You think of this person on every occasion and in everything you do. Simple things bring them to mind like a pale blue sky, gentle wind or even a storm cloud on the horizon. You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and security is in knowing that they are a part of your life.

- Bob Marley






The course of true love never did run smooth.

- William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright, poet
From A Midsummer Night's Dream
Act I, Scene l






Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it.

- Nicholas Sparks, (1965- ), American writer
From A Walk to Remember

You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact they're not.

- Jodi Picoult (1966- ), American author
From My Sister's Keeper




love is the voice under all silences, 
the hope which has no opposite in fear, 
the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: 
the truth more first than the sun, more last than star

- E,E, Cummings (189 -1962), American poet, writer
From being to timelessness as it's to time




Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.

- Robert Frost (1874-1963), American poet
As quoted in a review of A Swinger of Birches (1957) by Sydney Cox in Vermont History, Vol. 25 (1957), page 355



Love never dies a natural death.  It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source.  It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals.  It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.

- Anaïs Nin (1903-1977), author, born in France to Cuban parents
From Cities of the Ineriors

The Rose

Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dyin'
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose.

- Lyrics by Bette Midler (1945- ), American singer, songwriter, actrees

- Joanne

Eugene V. Debs: The socialist who ran for President of the United States five times

 

If it had not been for the discontent of a few fellows who had not been satisfied with their conditions, you would still be living in caves.  Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization.  Progress is born of agitation.  It is agitation or stagnation.  

- Eugene V. Debs

From "The Issue," Speech delivered at Giard, Kansas, May 23, 1908


With Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a self-proclaimed socialist, seeking the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, I thought it would be apropos to write about another American socialist - Eugene V. Debs.  Debs, who ran as the Socialist Party's candidate for president five times between 1900 and 1920, has been an inspiration to Sanders.  In a November 12, 2015 Reuters article, journalist Alexander Heffner wrote that when he asked the Vermont senator to name his political hero , "he quickly named labor organizer Eugene V. Debs . . ."

Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs was born on November 5, 1855 in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the third of six surviving children and the first born son.  His parents, Jean Daniel (1820-1906) and Marguerite Marie Bettrich Debs (1828-1906) were immigrants to the United States from Alsace, France. They named their first born son after French authors Eugene Sue and Victor Hugo. Interestingly enough, Debs' father did not come from a working class background.  Jean Daniel Debs, was a member of an affluent family who owned a textile mill and a meat market in France.  In Terre Haute, Debs' parents owned a small grocery store at the front of the family's two-story home.

When he was just 14 years old, Eugene Debs dropped out of high school and left home to work as a paint scraper in the railroad yards.  He later became a locomotive firefighter and attended night classes at a business college.  In 1874, at his mother's urging, he left his job as a railway fireman and returned to Terre Haute.  He found employment as a billing clerk at Hulman & Cox, a wholesale grocery firm.  Although no longer a railroad employee, Debs' was interested in labour issues.  He remained a strong supporter of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and used his salary to assist the local union in Vigo County, Indiana.

While young Gene was working at the Hulman & Cox warehouse, he and some of his friends founded the Occidental Literary Club of Terre Haute.  As president of the club in 1875, Debs brought many famous personages to Terre Haute.  These included such outstanding speakers as lawyer and political leader Col. Robert Ingersoll, writer and poet James Whitcomb Riley, social reformer and feminist Susan B. Anthony, orator and lawyer Wendell Phillips and others.

In 1878, Debs was made assistant editor of the National Brotherhood Of  Locomotive Fireman's Magazine.  In 1879, he was elected on the Democrat ticket to the first of his two terms as City Clerk of Terre Haute.  The following year, he was named Grand Secretary of the Brotherhood of Railway Firemen and editor of the BLF Magazine.  His political career began to rise in 1884 when, as a Democrat, he was elected state representative to the Indiana General Assembly, representing Terre Haute and Vigo County.  He served one term in 1885.

Around that time, there were also major changes in Eugene Debs' personal life.  On June 9, 1885. at the age of 29, he married Katherine "Kate" Metzel, the stepdaughter of a prominent Terre Haute druggist named John Jacob Baur.  The couple did not have any children.

In 1890, Debs and his wife built and moved into a beautiful home in Terre Haute at 451 North Eigth Street.  According to the biographical sketch in Gentle Rebel: Letters of Eugene V. Debs, edited by J. Robert Constantine, the house "was a source of controversy from time to time." and that it was regarded as "tasteless" for a labour organizer to build such a grand home in an upscale neighbourhood.

The Debs home is now a National Historic Landmark,of the National Parks Department of Interior of the United States. Located on the campus of Indiana State University, it is an official historic site of the State of Indiana.and is known as the Eugene V. Debs House Museum.

Katherine "Kate" Metzel Debs

Eugene V. Debs House Museum

                                          Photo Attribution: C. Bedford Crenshaw



Eugene Debs organized the the American Railway Union (ARU). in Chicago in 1893.  With Debs as its president, the ARU was an independent union of 150,000 members and it was the first industrial union in the United States.  In April of 1894, Debs' union conducted a strike for higher wages against the Great Northern Railway . The strike lasted for 18 days after which the railway acceded to the demands of the union.

The next month, Debs became deeply involved in one of the most significant strikes in American history.  The conflict began on May 11, 1894 outside of Chicago, when workers at George Pullman's Palace factory walked out as a protest against a series of wage reductions and other grievances.. Some of the Pullman workers were members of the American Railway Union, led by Eugene V. Debs.  The strike was long and bitter.  It lasted for weeks and ARU members refused to handle trains with Pullman cars. Consequently, the major railroad lines in and out of Chicago were tied up and much of the freight and passenger traffic in the United States west of Detroit, Michigan was shut down.  The boycott became the largest national strike in the history of the United States.

Pullman workers exit the factory gates after a day's work. 

Below is a photo of striking American Railway Union members confronting Illinois National Guard troops in Chicago during the Pullman strike.

Determined to put an end to both the strike and boycott, the railway owners pleaded with President Grover Cleveland to send in federal troops to establish order.  Cleveland agreed, maintaining that the soldiers were needed to allow the movement of the mails.  The strike was ultimately crushed and many lives were lost in violent confrontations.  Eugene Debs was jailed in May of 1895 for defying a federal court's injunction.  He and other ARU leaders was incarcerated for contempt of court because they had disobeyed a federal order prohibiting them from saying or doing anything to encourage the continuation of the strike.

According to The American Nation: A History of the United States Since 1865, by John. A Garraty, one of the results of the Pullman strike was to make Eugene V. Debs a national figure. While serving a six month prison sentence at the McHenry County Jail in Woodstock, Illinois, Debs was visited by Milwaukee publisher Victor L. Berger and other well known independent socialists.  They brought him reading material such as Karl Marx's Das Kapital, which Garraty says he found "too dull to finish." He did, however, complete  Looking Backward, by Edward Bell and Wealth Against Commonwealth, by Henry Demarest Lloyd, and a variety of other works on socialist theory.  These writings influenced Debs greatly and after his release from prison in November 1895, he was to become more committed than ever to the international socialist movement.

In 1896, Debs supported the campaign of William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic candidate.for president.  Jennings, who presented himself as a champion of the working man, lost the election to his more conservative Republican opponent, William McKinley.  In 1897, Debs announced his conversion to socialism.  He was the Socialist Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1900, but only received a modest 96,000 votes.

In 1901, the Socialist Democratic Party (SDP) was dissolved and the Socialist Party of America (SPA) was established by a merger of the SDP and dissatisfied elements of the Socialist Labor Party. In the 1904 and 1908 presidential campaigns, Eugene V. Debs' ran for president under the banner of the Socialist Party of America.  His vice-presidential running mate was Benjamin Hanford,  Hanford, a New York printer by trade, was the creator of a fictional socialist hero named "Jimmie Higgins." Debs' 1904 campaign platform included included support for woman's suffrage, restrictions on child labour, and workers' rights to organize unions.  Although he did not succeed in his presidential bid, the Socialist Party of America became the nation's third largest party that year, holding 1,000 elective offices in 33 states and 160 cities.

Ben Hanford

Debs poster 1904

Eugene V. Debs ran for president again in 1908 with Ben Hanford as his running mate.  Debs'
campaign that year featured the "Red Special Train" which travelled throughout the United States. On election day, his Socialist Party ticket won 420,856 votes (2.8% of the popular vote).  He finished third behind the Republican candidate William Taft who had 66.5% of the popular vote, and Democrat William J. Bryan who received 43.04% of the popular vote.  Below is a photo of the "Red Special Band" posing by Debs' campaign train.

In his 1912 presidential bid, Socialist P arty candidate Eugene Debs amassed 897,000 votes, It was an election in which liberals did well and Woodrow Wilson was elected president.with 6,286,000 of the 15 million ballots cast.  Debs' vice-presidential running mate in 1912 was Emil Seidel, the mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1910 to 1912.  Seidel had the distinction of being the first socialist mayor of a major city in the United States.

 Debs 1912 election campaign poster

Although Debs was the initial front runner for the Socialist Party nomination in 1916, he declined to run for president.  He opted instead to run for Congress in his home district of Terre Haute, Indiana, again on the Socialist ticket.  His campaign strongly advocated keeping America neutral in World War I.  Although many of his potential constituents agreed with him, Deb was defeated in his bid for a seat in Congress.

Eugene Debs was renowned for his oratory.  On June 16, 1918, with World War I raging in Europe, he delivered a passionate anti-war speech in Canton, Ohio in which he urged resistance to the draft. On June 30, as a result of that speech, he was arrested and charged with ten counts of sedition.  He appeared before a federal court in Cleveland and addressed the court in his own defence, but was convicted under the wartime anti-espionage act. and sentenced to ten years in prison  He also lost his U.S. citizenship, which he never recovered during his lifetime. It was restored posthumously by the United States government in 1976, fifty years after his death.

Debs delivering anti-war speech in Canton

On April 12, 1919, Eugene Debs began serving his sentence in Moundsville West Virginia State prison.  Two months later he was transferred to the Atlanta, Georgia federal prison.  In 1920, while imprisoned, Debs ran for president for the fifth and final time.  He was forced to conduct his campaign from a prison cell in Atlanta.  Yet, of his five presidential campaigns, he received his highest popular vote total that year, garnering about 915,000 write-in votes.

On Christmas Day, 1921, Debs was released from prison by President Warren G. Harding. His sentence was commuted to time served.  On December 28th,, he returned to his home in Terre Haute and was given a warm welcome by thousands of well-wishers.

Debs leaving federal penitentiary in Atlanta in 1921

By July of 1922, Debs' physical and mental health were in decline due to years of constant campaigning and time spent in prison.  In order to recapture his strength, he committed himself to the Lindlahr Sanitarium in Elmhurst, Illinois.  He died of heart failure there on October 20. 1926.  Eugene V. Debs was 70 years old at the time of his passing.


END NOTES

* Eugene V. Debs' wife, Kate Metzel Debs, died in 1936 at the age of 69.

*  Eugene Debs' most well known writings include a pamphlet entitled Unionism and Socialism (1904) and a book, Walls and Bars (1927).


- Joanne