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According
to the US Department of Labor (DOL), the concept of a day to
honor US laborers was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire,
general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor.
Many
others believe that a machinist named Matthew Maguire founded
the holiday. Matthew Maguire, who would later become 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.
While
exactly who first proposed or created the holiday is still
debated, what is clear is that the Central Labor Union was the
first to adopt a Labor Day proposal. The Central Labor Union's
first celebration of the Labor Day holiday was Tuesday,
September 5, 1882, in New York City. And a year later the
Central Labor Union held its second holiday observance on
September 5, l883.
By
the following year (l884) it was decided that the first Monday
in September would become the day to celebrate this
"workingmen's holiday." The Central Labor Union urged similar
organizations in other cities to follow New York's example and
celebrate on that date. The idea spread with the growth of
labor organizations, and by l885 Labor Day was celebrated in
many of the industrial centers of the country.
Initial
governmental recognition of the holiday would came through
municipal ordinances. The first to become law was passed by
Oregon in l887. By the end of the year four more state
legislatures - Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New
York - had passed similar laws. In 1894, with 23 other states
having had adopted the holiday, Congress passed an act making
the first Monday in September a legal holiday. Today, Labor
Day is observed not only in the U.S. but also in Canada, and
many other industrialized nations.
Labor
Day is generally observed with parades, speeches, barbecues,
and picnics. The day has also become the unofficial end of the
summer season with many colleges, secondary and elementary
schools beginning classes immediately after the Labor Day
weekend.
Now you know a little more about
Labor Day!
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