Today is Labor Day \u2014 to some people, this is kind of the official end of summer. In some ways, I guess that\u2019s kind of true, because Labor Day has become all about BBQs, beaches, ballgames, shopping and things like that. It\u2019s also a big weekend for travel \u2014 I just read that almost 60% of Americans planned to \u201cget out of town\u201d for Labor Day weekend. There a lot of college football games scheduled and many\/most people will participate in some kind of a cookout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Labor Day didn\u2019t start out to be a relaxing, late-summer weekend.\u00a0
The holiday grew out of the organized labor movement in the late 19th century \u2014 in September, 1882, the unions of New York City decided to have a parade to celebrate their members being in unions, and to show support for all unions. From what I\u2019ve read, the event attracted at least 20,000 people and the workers had to give up a day\u2019s pay to attend. It seems like there was also a lot of beer involved with the event.\u00a0
Well, this inspired other unions in other regions to have parades, and by 1887, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Colorado made Labor Day a state holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one\u2019s exactly sure who should get credit for that first \u201cLabor Day Parade\u201d in New York City. Depending on who you talk to, two people get credit for that event. Matthew Maguire, a machinist, and Peer McGuire, a carpenter \u2014 both are sometimes listed at the organizer. The two men were from rival unions, and in 2011, Linda Stinson, a former U.S. Department of Labor historian said she didn\u2019t know which man should be credited \u2014 partially because people over the years confused them because of their similar-sounding names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed an act establishing Labor Day as a federal holiday \u2014 by then, most states had already passed laws establishing a Labor Day. But Senator James Henderson Kyle of South Dakota introduced\u00a0 S.730 to make Labor Day a federal legal holiday on the first Monday of September. It was approved on June 28, 1894.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, there are fewer parades on Labor Day and the day is set aside to honor organized labor \u2014 and \u2014 it marks the perceived end of the summer season.
So today we celebrate labor and those that work to make our country great. Some say that \u201cwork\u201d is a four-letter word \u2014 and that\u2019s true, but Confucius said, \u201cChoose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.\u201d
Happy Labor Day.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is Labor Day \u2014 to some people, this is kind of the official end of summer. In some ways, I guess that\u2019s kind of true, because Labor Day has become all about BBQs, beaches, ballgames, shopping and things like … Continue reading