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Labor Day: Did You Know?
American labor has raised the nation’s standard of living and contributed to the greatest production the world has ever seen. We celebrate and pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership – the American worker.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, created by the Central Labor Union. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.
In 1882, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested setting aside a day for a "general holiday for the laboring classes" to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."
Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887. In 1887, four more states approved the holiday – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor
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