Every September Labor Day rolls around and people head off to the beach or to visit family.  But do you know how Labor Day started?  Labor Day is the first Monday of September and a day to take off work to celebrate all the hard work that everyone does in this country.  The first Labor Day was actually celebrated on a Tuesday, September 5, 1882.  It happened in New York City and was coordinated by the Central Labor Union.  The first Labor Day had a street parade to celebrate the labor and trade workers in the city, along with a festival for the workers and their families.  Later, prominent people in the city were asked to give speeches at the festivities.  New Yorkers continued celebrating this way annually for years after that, but Labor Day did not become a government recognized holiday until 1894, 12 years after the first one.

Even though New York was the first state to have Labor Day, Oregon was the first state to pass the holiday into law.  Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York were quick to follow and, In years to come, more and more states passed this day into law.  In 1894, Congress made Labor Day a legal holiday as the first Monday of September.

There is some debate as to who actually founded Labor Day.  Some records have Peter J. McGuire, the secretary for the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, as the founder while others show Matthew Maguire, secretary for the International Association of Machinist, as the one who created this holiday.  Records say that McGuire was the first to come up with the idea of a holiday to celebrate the work force, but Maguire was the first to actually propose the holiday to the Central Labor Union, so it is up to you to decide who founded Labor Day.

While the way we celebrate this holiday may have changed quite a bit since 1882 and we don’t really know who founded this holiday, remember to relax and have fun this Monday because taking a break from all the hard work that we Americans do every day is what this day is really all about!