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Eagle Forgotten: The Life of John Peter Altgeld
John Peter Altgeld (12/30/1847–3/12/02) was the 20th Governor of Illinois from 1893 until 1897, the 1st Democratic governor of that state since the 1850s. A leading figure of the Progressive movement, Altgeld improved workplace safety & child labor laws, pardoned three of the men convicted of the Haymarket Affair & rejected calls in 1894 to break up the Pullman strike with force. In 1896 he was a leader of the left wing of the Democratic Party, opposing President Grover Cleveland & the conservative Bourbon Democrats. He was defeated for reelection in 1896 in an intensely fought, bitter campaign.
Originally published in 1938, this is still the best biography of John Peter Altgeld--German immigrant and enemy of orthodoxy--who became governor of Illinois and at the sacrifice of his career pardoned the Haymarket Martyrs.
Originally published in 1938, this is still the best biography of John Peter Altgeld--German immigrant and enemy of orthodoxy--who became governor of Illinois and at the sacrifice of his career pardoned the Haymarket Martyrs.
500 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1938
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 8, 2023
“When had any American more impressed national affairs?”
Harry Barnard’s 1938 hagiography of Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld focuses on primarily three mileposts in the German native’s political career: his pardoning of three of the eight defendants in Chicago’s 1886 Haymarket bombing (four others were hanged, one committed suicide); the Pullman railroad strike and how it led to the governor’s feud with President Cleveland; and Altgeld’s involvement in the Democratic presidential nomination of Willam Jennings Bryan on a Free Silver platform in 1896.
”Eagle Forgotten” is overly laudatory but comes off as an effective defense of Altgeld, especially considering how vilified the governor had been in the 1890s. One of the book’s biggest takeaways is just how rancid the press was back in the 19th century. That era’s yellow journalism along with the two McKinley/Bryan presidential races are the subjects here into which I most want to dig deeper.
Harry Barnard’s 1938 hagiography of Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld focuses on primarily three mileposts in the German native’s political career: his pardoning of three of the eight defendants in Chicago’s 1886 Haymarket bombing (four others were hanged, one committed suicide); the Pullman railroad strike and how it led to the governor’s feud with President Cleveland; and Altgeld’s involvement in the Democratic presidential nomination of Willam Jennings Bryan on a Free Silver platform in 1896.
”Eagle Forgotten” is overly laudatory but comes off as an effective defense of Altgeld, especially considering how vilified the governor had been in the 1890s. One of the book’s biggest takeaways is just how rancid the press was back in the 19th century. That era’s yellow journalism along with the two McKinley/Bryan presidential races are the subjects here into which I most want to dig deeper.
September 13, 2019
Harry Barnard chose as his title for this life of John Peter Altgeld, Eagle Forgotten. A grimly prophetic title about a man who sacrificed his career on the altar of social justice and common decency.
Altgeld was born in Germany in 1847 and came over to the USA as a kid settling in Ohio. As a teen he
ran away from home and enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. After service he returned
and worked on his mother's farm. taught school, and studied law. He first lived in rural Missouri
after becoming a lawyer, both worked on a farm and practiced law. Altgeld was also active in the
radical Granger movement for farmers.
Altgeld eventually moved to Chicago and was a lawyer to the poor and downtrodden. He observed as
did others before and since that the penal system itself didn't rehabilitate and often made people
hard cases with mere incarceration. He wrote an essay Our Penal Machinery And It's Victims which became quite controversial. It branded Altgeld a dangerous radical. But a lot thought it
made good sense including another young Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow. It also got Altgeld elected Superior Court Judge for Cook County in 1891.
The following year Altgeld was nominated for governor of Illinois and became the first Democrat elected since
the Civil War. He passed what was considered radical legislation involving child labor and industrial safety and increased exponentially monies for education.
Altgeld might have done more, but he got involved in two controversies that branded him a dangerous radical. He pardoned the surviving anarchists who were convicted in the Haymarket
bombing in 1887. Altgeld thought the evidence against them rather specious. He got flamed by
the right wing for that.
In 1894 George Pullman who was a major employer in Chicago refused to bargain with the American Railway Union which Eugene Debs headed. The ARU struck and rail service went dead
in Chicago. President Grover Cleveland had troops sent in to run the railroads on the grounds that
the US mail was interfered with.
Cleveland bypassed Altgeld and Altgeld let him know it. Cleveland in his second term was a most
unpopular president and this act boosted his ratings. It was a blow to organized labor and Altgeld
as he always did went with the workers. And as governor since he did not request any troops,
Cleveland's actions were on shaky legal grounds.
Those two acts branded Altgeld one dangerous radical and he was defeated for a second term in
1896. He never recovered politically from that and to earn a living he worked as an associate with
Clarence Darrow. He died in 1902 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
A brave but truly forgotten hero, Harry Barnard gives John Peter Altgeld his due.
Altgeld was born in Germany in 1847 and came over to the USA as a kid settling in Ohio. As a teen he
ran away from home and enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War. After service he returned
and worked on his mother's farm. taught school, and studied law. He first lived in rural Missouri
after becoming a lawyer, both worked on a farm and practiced law. Altgeld was also active in the
radical Granger movement for farmers.
Altgeld eventually moved to Chicago and was a lawyer to the poor and downtrodden. He observed as
did others before and since that the penal system itself didn't rehabilitate and often made people
hard cases with mere incarceration. He wrote an essay Our Penal Machinery And It's Victims which became quite controversial. It branded Altgeld a dangerous radical. But a lot thought it
made good sense including another young Chicago attorney Clarence Darrow. It also got Altgeld elected Superior Court Judge for Cook County in 1891.
The following year Altgeld was nominated for governor of Illinois and became the first Democrat elected since
the Civil War. He passed what was considered radical legislation involving child labor and industrial safety and increased exponentially monies for education.
Altgeld might have done more, but he got involved in two controversies that branded him a dangerous radical. He pardoned the surviving anarchists who were convicted in the Haymarket
bombing in 1887. Altgeld thought the evidence against them rather specious. He got flamed by
the right wing for that.
In 1894 George Pullman who was a major employer in Chicago refused to bargain with the American Railway Union which Eugene Debs headed. The ARU struck and rail service went dead
in Chicago. President Grover Cleveland had troops sent in to run the railroads on the grounds that
the US mail was interfered with.
Cleveland bypassed Altgeld and Altgeld let him know it. Cleveland in his second term was a most
unpopular president and this act boosted his ratings. It was a blow to organized labor and Altgeld
as he always did went with the workers. And as governor since he did not request any troops,
Cleveland's actions were on shaky legal grounds.
Those two acts branded Altgeld one dangerous radical and he was defeated for a second term in
1896. He never recovered politically from that and to earn a living he worked as an associate with
Clarence Darrow. He died in 1902 of a cerebral hemorrhage.
A brave but truly forgotten hero, Harry Barnard gives John Peter Altgeld his due.
May 21, 2022
This is a friendly but balanced biography of the Illinois governor who pardoned the three surviving men of the eight who were convicted in relation to the Haymarket tragedy. Written in 1938, the book is informative and enjoyable.
February 13, 2013
John Peter Altgeld, Gilded Age governor of Illinois, is most widely remembered as the politician who sacrificed his career in order to serve justice by pardoning the surviving Haymarket radicals and by refusing to authorize the federal crackdown on the Pullman strikers. He is remembered in the state today by a street in Chicago, some buildings at the state universities and little else.
"Where is Altgeld, brave as the truth,
Whose name the few still say with tears?
Gone to join the ironies with Old John Brown,
Whose fame rings loud for a thousand years."
--Vachel Lindsay
"Where is Altgeld, brave as the truth,
Whose name the few still say with tears?
Gone to join the ironies with Old John Brown,
Whose fame rings loud for a thousand years."
--Vachel Lindsay
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews