History Series: Labor Day
History of Labor Day
What’s Work Got To Do With It?
Labor Day is the day we celebrate the process our mothers went through to deliver us at birth. Sorry, wrong holiday; Labor Day in the U.S. is the day we celebrate the achievements of the American labor movement.
While it is still disputed whether Peter J. McGuire first proposed the holiday, the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, or Matthew Maguire, a machinist and secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York — observances of the holiday go back over a century in the U.S.
When did it begin, what is the backstory, how is it observed, is there a dress code, what is the value of labor?
First Celebration of Labor Day
The first Labor Day celebration was organized by the Central Labor Union on September 5, 1882, in New York City. The legislature of New York first deliberated a bill to establish a regular holiday, but Oregon was the first to pass it on February 21, 1887. It was first proposed as “a street parade to exhibit to the public the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.”
In other countries, it’s often celebrated as International Workers’ Day on May Day. The U.S. does not observe it on May 1st…
