David Montgomery, union organizer, political and civil rights activist, and well-known scholar of American labor history died suddenly on December 2, 2011. A retired Yale University Farnum Professor of History, he is equally well known for his publications and skill as a teacher as he was as an advocate for equality and for his tireless support for workers and trade unions. Through his published works and lectures—in English, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish—Montgomery's influence as a historian of workers' history and their struggles for equality and survival was felt by workers, students, and academics in several countries.