The “Debs Day” Dinner

The “Debs Dinner” was celebrated by the Socialist Party of America/Socialist Party USA - particularly in Chicago but in other cities throughout the United States - starting in the 1950s.

Although the Socialist Party USA is a multi-tendency organization and does not base its advocacy on any one particular writer or thinker, its five-time Presidential nominee Eugene V. Debs is widely recognized as the face of the party when it reached its height of popularity and influence. (“Through the first two decades of the 20th century, the Socialist Party was split over power struggles and differences of opinions, but always united in supporting Debs as its presidential candidate and leading symbol.” - Eugene V. Debs Foundation)

On June 16, 1918, Debs delivered a speech in Canton, Ohio in opposition to U.S. participation in the first World War. He was charged with sedition for giving the speech and sentenced to ten years in prison. He served two years before his sentence was commuted in 1921. Debs would never fully recover from his experience in prison and died in 1926.

To commemorate Deb’s 1918 speech, the Socialist Party of Baltimore holds its Debs Day Dinner on the Saturday closest to June 16.

Click here for more information about the 2026 Debs Day Dinner.