The History of Labor
Day
Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means
Labor
Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is
dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It
constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to
the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
Labor Day Legislation
Through
the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first
governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885
and 1886. From these, a movement developed the movement to secure state
legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature,
but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During
the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York —
created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the
decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23
other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of
that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each
year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
Founder of Labor Day
More
than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt
as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.
Some
records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of
Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was
first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved
and carved all the grandeur we behold."
But
Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many
believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the
holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire,
later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists
in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of
the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor
Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a
demonstration and picnic.
The First Labor Day
The
first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New
York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central
Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September
5, 1883.
In
1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally
proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other
cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's
holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor
organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers
of the country.
Labor Day Legislation
Through
the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first
governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885
and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The
first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to
become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more
states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor
Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut,
Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had
adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress
passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday
in the District of Columbia and the territories.
A Nationwide Holiday
The
form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined
in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public
"the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor
organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation
and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for
the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were
introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic
significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American
Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was
adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects
of the labor movement.
The
character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years,
especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades
have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and
medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials,
industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide
coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.
The
vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the
greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the
realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It
is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the
creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the
American worker.
From the US Department of Labor Site - Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez
