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. 

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 were
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. 


      

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