Historical Highlight

 

A Day to Celebrate Our Labor

 

“No work is insignificant.  All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

            Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!  The Labor Day holiday is a day that for most of us is a welcomed break from the regular grind that we all face with our normal work schedules.  It usually means that most kids are back at school and it is time to put away things like white shoes and pants as well as time to start thinking about closing down the pools.  Most people celebrate this holiday by taking advantage of the long weekend and travelling or having one more big cookout before the fall weather settles in for the duration.  Between the festivals, the travel or the hotdogs, many people have very little understanding about the origins of Labor Day and how it all came about.

 

            While there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on who originated the idea of Labor Day (it was either Peter McGuire or Matthew Maguire, both have credible claim to fame) it is recognized that the idea was born in New York and the first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday September 5th 1882 in New York City in accordance of the Central Labor Union of New York.  The state of New York was the first to draw up a state law to create Labor Day as a state wide holiday but Oregon was the first state to adopt a Labor Day Holiday.  It is called labor day because it is a day set aside to celebrate “…(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,” (US Dept. of Labor).  Though the early recognition of Labor Day was in the larger more industrial cities of the time it soon gathered more and more attention and was declared a national holiday in 1894.  The term Labor Day held a different swag back a hundred and twenty plus years ago and more and more workers were coming into larger urban area as manufacturing was overtaking agriculture as the main engine of the US economy.  The industrial revolution before and at the turn of the century saw men, women and children working 12 or more hours a day for pitiful wages and in very unsafe working conditions.  The first Labor Day parade was made up of the 10,000 workers who took unpaid time off to march to the City Hall of New York and people took notice.  Labor Day was a holiday created by the workers for the workers not only for a day of rest but to raise up their efforts and celebrate their contribution to the welfare of their homeland.  Over time as different organizations were able to raise awareness to the working conditions of the common laborer, working conditions slowly began to improve for all as various laws and regulations have come into fruition for the protection of the workers and their employers. 

 

            As you celebrate Labor Day and the long weekend I hope that you will all be safe in whatever endeavor you choose to pursue for your pleasure and enjoyment.  Thanks as always for reading and pass this along for those who might enjoy a quick history quip.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together!

 

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com