Living in the Shadow of Eugene V. Debs

Katherine Debs' Crucial Role Behind Debs' Success

Sep 4, 2009 Bonnye Good

Socialist Eugene V. Debs' wife suffered a tarnished reputation but was smart, fiercely loyal, and enabled him to spend his life promoting his causes to help others.

Katherine Metzel Debs, a shy homebody, inspired controversy among Debs’ union and socialist colleagues as she competed for his attention during his political rise and the peak of his career. Yet, “Duckie”, as she was called by Debs, possessed her own strength as she worked to build her life with Debs, in spite of his absence.

Katherine spent much of her marriage alone, thanks to Debs’ occupations as a railroad labor union leader in the late 1800s and then as a five-time socialist candidate for the presidency in the early 1900s. Since they had no children, Debs did not seem tied to Terre Haute and spent months touring the country as an orator for his causes and eventually spent almost three years in jail for his political views.

Financial Acumen and Building a Legacy for Eugene V. Debs

When she inherited money from her aunt, Katherine used the funds and their savings to build the home on 8th Street, which today houses the Eugene V. Debs Museum. Katherine, like Debs’ mother Marguerite, was the financially astute marital partner and she managed to keep the household running in spite of Debs' considerable expenses and even greater generosity.

Rather than credit her ability to budget, the new two-story house with the large attic and a wraparound porch adorned with gingerbreading in what was then a popular neighborhood did not endear her to Debs’ peers, many of whom felt that the new house did not project the appropriate image for a labor union and socialist leader.

Debs was known for giving the coat off his back and his last dollar to those he felt needed them more but Katherine made sure that he had a place to return home when he was not on speaking tours with extra clothes for him to wear.

The "Adversary" Battles the Brother and the Biographer

Debs’ own brother, Theodore, often disagreed with Katherine about what was best for Eugene. Since Theodore served as Debs’ secretary for many years, he had an intimate view of the marriage but also had an agenda in furthering the national cause of socialism. To this end, Theodore approved of Debs’ presumably strictly intellectual relationship with fellow socialist Mabel Curry, a woman who worked in Debs’ own office.

In fact, Theodore’s opinions appeared in Irving Stone’s fictionalized biography, Adversary in the House, in which Katherine was portrayed as manipulative, anti-socialist, and pro-German during World War I. Truthfully, Theodore, who was otherwise of incalculable service to Eugene, remained jealous of Katherine’s spousal interests and resented her concerns that he was pushing Eugene too hard, especially since Eugene’s health was becomingly frail.

When Debs returned home from speaking tours ill and exhausted, Katherine would nurse him back to health so that he could return to his office and eventually, back to the speaking circuit or to the campaign trail.

Comrade Wife, Beloved Friend, and Embodiment of the Home in Terre Haute

Even though Katherine remained more conservative than her husband Eugene, her letters and scrapbooks indicate that she was very proud of him and supported his objectives. The Chicago Chronicle noted that Katherine was knowledgeable regarding economics and she wrote that she was as “interested in [Debs’] ideas and works as though I was one of his men associates.” Katherine continued that she believed that her husband was right and would continue to win popular support.

Most importantly, Debs referred to Katherine as his “comrade wife” and declared that Katherine was his “inspiration.” Debs, who straddled both the outwardly mannerly Victorian era and the progressive era, also managed to appreciate his devoted wife’s gifts even while touring the country far from their Terre Haute home.

Sources:

Eugene V. Debs Foundation, Eugene V. Debs Museum, Terre Haute, IN

Letter from Theodore Debs to Oscar Baur, 15 October 1940.

Katherine Debs’ Scrapbook 2

Letter from Katherine Debs to Grace Brewer, 11 October 1910.

Ginger, Ray. The Bending Cross: A Biography of Eugene V. Debs. New Brunswick: Rutgers University, 1949.

Stone, Irving. Adversary in the House. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1947.

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