Elleda Wilson: Labor Day

Elleda Wilson, The Daily Astorian, Ore.
·1 min read

Sep. 1—The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882 (a Tuesday) in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union. The first state to pass a law to observe Labor Day as a state holiday was Oregon, on Feb. 21, 1887. Congress passed the Labor Day Act, making the holiday the first Monday in September, on June 28, 1894.

There is some debate as to who the father of Labor Day is. Many believe Peter McGuire, a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first to have the idea, in 1882, of a holiday to honor "the laboring classes ... who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

Others think Matthew Maguire of New Jersey is the founder of the holiday. While secretary of the Central Labor Union of New York, also in 1882, he suggested having a holiday for laborers.

After the Labor Day Act passed, the Paterson (New Jersey) Morning Call proclaimed that "the souvenir pen should go to Alderman Matthew Maguire of this city, who is the undisputed author of Labor Day as a holiday."

McGuire or Maguire? It's still unsettled, unless you live in New Jersey, apparently. And then there is labor union titan Samuel Gompers, who insisted on having the final say in the matter. He thought Maguire was too radical so, when asked, he declared his good friend, Peter McGuire, as the founder of Labor Day.