Labor Day was first celebrated in on September 5, 1882. According to the United States Department of Labor, Labor Day is the creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.
It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
It has been celebrated in America for more than one hundred years. Doubt remains about who first proposed the holiday. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, General Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first to suggest the idea.
Many believe however, that a machinist, Matthew Maguire, founded the holiday. Recent research shows that he may have proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of Central Labor Union in New York. What is known is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
The Central Labor Union held the first Labor Day on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. Just one year, later, on September 5, 1883, they held their second. In 1884, the first Monday in September was chosen as the holiday. The first governmental recognition of Labor Day came through municipal ordinances passed in 1885 and 1886.
By 1894, some 30 states had adopted the holiday and on June 28 that same year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
As Memorial Day weekend signifies the start of summer, Labor Day weekend means the end of lazy days at the lake and pool, and grilling out. It is for this reason that the Labor Day holiday has always had a bit of melancholy about it for me personally. Another summer has come and gone, and we miss it already.