Convict number 9653 at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1920, brought friendliness and concern to his fellow inmates and prison officials. He dropped out of high school at age fourteen to work in the Terre Haute railroad yards for fifty cents as a painter. He was born of immigrant parents with a vision of justice.

On September 14,1918, "Convict Number 9653" became the alias of Eugene V. Debs, who was a Hoosier union organizer, writer, lecturer, and five-time presidential candidate. Debs's views were often very different from his Terre Haute neighbors and the country. He had many "radical" reforms such as an eight-hour work day, pensions, workman's compensation, sick leave, and social security are very common in today's society. Debs had a philosophy contained in the short statement:

While there is a lower class, I am in it;

While there is a criminal element, I am of it;

While the is a soul in prison, I am not free!

Eugene V. Debs, born on Nov. 5, 1855, was the eldest son of parents who came to Indiana from Alsace in 1851. He dropped out of high school to help his family with their financial problems, and went to be a paint scraper on railroad cars. He was promoted to a conductor fireman, but his parents insisted, out of concern, that he quit. Even while working as a grocery clerk in new job, Debs continued his interest in the railroad workers' difficulty. He became a charter member and secretary of the Vigo Lodge, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen on Feb. 27, 1875. This was the beginning of his incline towards his candidacy of the Socialist Party.