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43 Monthly Lab. Rev. 279 (1936)
Origin and Significance of Labor Day

handle is hein.journals/month43 and id is 305 raw text is: Monthly Labor Review + 'Published by the UNITED STATES BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Vol. 43, No. 2 WASHINGTON August 1936 Origin and Significance of Labor Day By ESTELLE M. STEWART, of the BUREAU o LABOR STATISTICS L ABOR Day is definitely a creation of the present-day labor move- ment. It seems, from the available record, to have originated in a motion made by one of the pioneer unionists in a meeting of the Central Labor Union of New York City on May 8, 1882, that one day in the year, to be designated as Labor Day, should be estab- lished as a general holiday for the laboring classes. The mover of the resolution was Peter J. McGuire, at that time the general secre- tary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and a delegate to the Central Labor Union of New York, which had just been formed. In support of his idea he pointed out that although other notable American holidays were representative of the religious, civil, and military spirit, there was no occasion devoted to the industrial spirit, the great vital force of every nation. He suggested the first Monday in September. for the holiday he had in mind, as it would come at the most pleasant season of the year, nearly midway between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, and would fill a wide gap in the chronology of legal holidays. Mr. McGuire's resolution was adopted and a committee was appointed to plan a demonstration in line with his suggestion of a street parade, which would publicly show the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organi- zations, to be followed by a picnic or a festival in some grove. The first Labor Day occurred on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. As reported in the New York World of September 6, 1882: The great labor demonstration and picnic yesterday under the auspices of the Central Labor Union, composed of the Various trade and labor organizations of New York City and neighborhood, was very successful. Mr. John Swinton, Louis F. Post,' C. A. Beecher of Newark, P. J. McGuire, and others were speakers. IWhen the United States Department of Labor was created in 1913, Louis F. Post was appointed Assist- ant Secretary of Labor.

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