Do
you know the history of Labor Day? As we celebrate this “end of summer” holiday
I thought it would be interesting to do a little research to learn more about
Labor Day and how it came to be a national holiday. I found the following Q
& As on the website of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Q:
What’s the history of Labor Day? How did it all begin?
A: The Labor Day
holiday is interesting because it evolved over a period of years. In 19th
century America, there was already a tradition of having parades, picnics and
various other celebrations in support of labor issues, such as shorter hours or
to rally strikers. But most historians emphasize one specific event in the
development of today’s modern Labor Day. That pivotal event was the parade of unions
and a massive picnic that took place in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882.
After
that major event in New York City, other localities began to pick up the idea
for a fall festival of parades and picnics celebrating workers.
Q: When
did it become a national holiday and why?
A: Labor Day as a
national, legal holiday had an interesting evolution. The legalized celebration
of Labor Day began as individual state celebrations. In 1887, New York, New
Jersey and Colorado were among the first states to approve state legal
holidays. Then other states joined in to create their own state Labor Days.
Finally, in response to a groundswell of support for a national holiday
celebrating the nation’s workers, Sen. James Henderson Kyle of South Dakota
introduced S. 730 to the 53rd Congress to make Labor Day a legal holiday on the
first Monday of September each year. It was approved on June 28, 1894.
You
can read more about the history of Labor Day at the Department of Labor’s
website, http://www.dol.gov/laborday.
You can see all of my Blog To Work posts here.
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