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When was the first Labor Day? When did it become a national holiday? Who "invented" it? This is a light-hearted look back at the origins of Labor Day, a holiday where we can kick our feet up, enjoy a burger or beer, and celebrate our own awesomeness.
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A Brief History of Labor Day…
By Jonathan Michael
The facts:On June 28, 1894, the U.S. Congress voted to designate the first
Monday of September, “Labor Day,” a federal holiday.
It is the seventh federal holiday established by Congress.
*This is not an actual photo of the U.S. Congress from 1894. This is the 43rd U.S. Congress (20 years earlier)
To honor and celebrate the importance of the American labor force and their social and economic contribution to the country.
The purpose of Labor Day:
— Lawrence McGann Chairman of the House Committee on Labor, 1894
“So long as the laboring man can feel that he holds an
honorable as well as a useful place in the body politic, so long will he be a loyal and
faithful citizen.”
This guy totally looks like Steve Carell
But, individual states started it first…
Before Congress established Labor Day as a federal holiday, 23 U.S. states already recognized it as a legal holiday.
Which was the first U.S. state to recognize Labor Day
as a legal holiday?
TRIVIA:
New York was the first state to introduce a bill to officially recognize
the holiday (Jan. 4, 1887)
BUT…
Oregon was the first state to pass their bill into law and legally
recognize the holiday (Feb. 21, 1887)
We’ve always been fast…
*
*Eugene, OR - home of
When was the first Labor Day?
TRIVIA:
The New York Central Labor Union held an all-day celebration that included a parade, a picnic, liberal
consumption of beer, and overall high spirits…
September 5, 1882 (a Tuesday):
5 months earlier…May 14, 1882:
The recorded minutes of the New York Central Labor Union’s meeting report a proposal for a “monster labor festival.”
I like to imagine the proposal went
something like this…
“Brethren, let our workingmen have a day unto themselves when they shall toil not according to their
crafts; but instead, embark with all gaiety and great cheer upon the city streets in celebration of a
monster labor festival…
— Central Labor Union president, Bill Murray
“…It will be awesome, and we can totally get our bosses to give us the day off if we are so drunk, that our inebriated attempts at labor should profit nothing, but perchance to result, rather, in
more harm than good.”
Hear, hear!
The day of the first parade…
At 9am spectators gathered near New York City’s city hall in such great numbers that police feared a riot
would break out…
September 5, 1882 (a Tuesday):
By 10am, William McCabe, Grand Marshall of the parade had taken his place at the front of the line, but no one had arrived with any marching music
Shortly after 10, the Jewelers Union of Newark Two arrived just in time with a band.
What were they playing? "When I First Put This Uniform On," from Patience, an
opera by Gilbert and Sullivan.The Jewelers Union dishin’ out some sass.
The parade included nearly 20,000 men and women who marched from the city hall to Reservoir Park.
Did you know? The current Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade only involves roughly
10,000 participants.
Who “invented” Labor Day?
McGuire vs. Maguire
The case for Peter J. McGuire
Co-founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL)
with Samuel Gompers in 1881
The legend: Peter McGuire addressed the New York
Central Labor Union on May 12, 1882 and called for a
"street parade which would publicly show the strength and esprit de corps of the
trade and labor organizations.”
The case for Peter J. McGuire
A union journal reprinted an article every year crediting
Peter J. McGuire with proposing the holiday, so the
legend spread…
The case for Peter J. McGuire
In a 1897 interview, Samuel Gompers (McGuire’s AFL co-founder) gave Peter
J. McGuire credit for originating Labor Day, and
the legend grew even more…
The case for Peter J. McGuire
But McGuire wasn’t that great of a guy…
- Arrested for embezzlement in 1901
- Died an alcoholic in 1906
The case for Peter J. McGuire
The case for Matthew Maguire
Was a machinist in the Knights of Labor, a union that rivaled the American Federation of Labor
Was the secretary of the Central Labor Union in 1882
As secretary, Maguire coordinated many details of the Sept. 5 parade, including issuing invitations to union
members to “review the Procession of the Trade and Labor Unions of New York and Vicinity” on August 31, 1882
The case for Matthew Maguire
The New York City parade Grand Marshall, William McCabe openly
reminisced about Matthew Maguire first suggesting the parade…
The case for Matthew Maguire
“…There is no question as to who is the father of
Labor Day in this country. Officially, as of this
moment, insofar as the Department of Labor is concerned, it is Matt Maguire, machinist!”
— W. Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Labor; 1968
The case for Matthew Maguire
…to this day, no one knows for sure. Both men were involved in the planning of the original parade, and both were prominent members of the labor unions in New York during that time.
Historians still argue about it.
The Truth is…
Matthew Maguire
…but my money’s on this guy
American Icons of Labor
The “Last Spike” in Promontory Summit, Utah marked the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad, 1869.
Henry Ford’s assembly line in 1913
American Icons of Labor
“Lunch atop a Skyscraper,” 1932
American Icons of Labor
The Hoover Dam, 1934
American Icons of Labor
The Golden Gate Bridge, 1935
American Icons of Labor
Rosie the Riveter
A 1942 war-time poster by J. Howard Miller. It was never named Rosie, but later became
the cultural icon Americans identified as Rosie
American Icons of Labor
The official “Rosie the Riveter,” by Norman Rockwell, 1943
Labor Day now…
Today, Labor Day is less about parades and is more about grilling burgers and having one last day off before summer ends…
For kids, it often means the looming school year hides in the shadows on Monday night, waiting for
them to fall asleep…
Not everyone gets Labor Day off…
It’s sad, but not everyone gets to take the day off. Here are just a few of the
professions that still have to punch in bright and early, Monday morning…
Police Officers
Firefighters
Nurses & Doctors
Retail employees
Airline/Airport employees
Cab Drivers
Bus Drivers
Many more…
What a bunch of suckers!
Labor Day is about YOURemember, as a member of the American labor
force, you hold “an honorable as well as a useful place in the body politic.”
Look around you. Raise your glass to the men and women who, like you, know how
to get things done.
Without you, society would fall into chaos, the global economy would collapse, and civilization
would usher in the Apocalypse…
…so, when you go back into work on Tuesday, just remember:
!
You’re saving the planet
All in a day’s work.
Happy Labor Day!
Your complete guide to planning!and running a business.
Image Sources:"CityHall 1911" by Flannery Family - New York City Hall Library. Via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CityHall_1911.JPG#mediaviewer/File:CityHall_1911.JPG
43rd US Congress (1874) By Redington & Shaffer, landscape photographers, P.O. Box 258, Washington, D.C. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
"LawrenceEMcGann" by An Illustrated Congressional Manual. The United States Red Book, 1896, (detail), Collection of U.S. House of Representatives - Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LawrenceEMcGann.jpg#mediaviewer/File:LawrenceEMcGann.jpg
"W. Willard Wirtz" by Photograph in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston - http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset+Tree/Asset+Viewers/Image+Asset+Viewer.htm?guid={648C8798-0C58-4508-A7A2-F4F6433D0BAD}&type=lgImage. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W._Willard_Wirtz.jpg#mediaviewer/File:W._Willard_Wirtz.jpg
"69workmen" by Andrew J. Russell (1830-1902), photographer - National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/gosp/index.htm. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:69workmen.jpg#mediaviewer/File:69workmen.jpg
"Ford assembly line - 1913" by Unknown - http://www.gpschools.org/ci/depts/eng/k5/third/fordpic.htm. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ford_assembly_line_-_1913.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Ford_assembly_line_-_1913.jpg
"Lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-c1932" by Bettman Archive. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of Lunch atop a Skyscraper via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-c1932.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Lunch-atop-a-skyscraper-c1932.jpg
"Damforms" by Bureau of Reclamation photographer - http://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g5000/photolab/gallery_detail.cfm?PICIDTYPE=7260. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Damforms.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Damforms.jpg
Golden Gate Bridge Photograph by: Hiller, Charles M.; September, 1935; Contributing Institution: Marin County Free Library
Sources:http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm
http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history-maguire.htm
http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history-elevator.htm
http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history-daze.htm
http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history-rosie.htm
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/Federal_Holidays.pdf
Labor Day Annual, 1893 http://books.google.com/books?id=8EwoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=when+did+new+york+introduce+the+labor+day+bill&source=bl&ots=u-gjQhBJVy&sig=xC8WYtS3csAl_Xy1UuD7mdhFVUY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Meb_U-WbEtDaoATcsoLYBg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=when%20did%20new%20york%20introduce%20the%20labor%20day%20bill&f=false
