September 5: First Labor Day Parade in New York (1882)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people doing important jobs who are sometimes overlooked.
History Note
On the first Monday in September of 1882, the sidewalks of lower Manhattan in New York City were lined with spectators young and old who were ready to watch what would come to be known as the first Labor Day parade.
Flags were flying and excitement was in the air. The New York City Police Department was concerned that a riot might start, so policemen were positioned around city hall with clubs in hand, ready to take action in case force was needed to maintain order. The time came for the parade to begin, but there were few marchers present and something was missing: There was no band to accompany the parade.
People wondered how a parade could start without tubas and trumpets and drums. Some thought the parade should be canceled, but the grand marshal of the parade wouldn’t hear of that. He wanted the celebration to go on no matter what. Just in time, around two hundred members of a jewelers union from nearby Newark, New Jersey, arrived on a ferry to join the parade—and they had a band!
By the time the parade reached its destination of Reservoir Park, between 10,000 and 20,000 people were marching through the streets. More people joined the gathering after the parade was over and enjoyed speeches and a picnic. By the end of the day, an estimated 25,000 working men and women and their families had participated.
News of the celebration in New York spread across the country, and other cities decided to have their own festivities. In 1887 the state of Oregon became the first state to pass a law making Labor Day an official holiday. Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York passed similar resolutions later that year. Other states soon followed.
During the Pullman Strike of 1894, conflict between striking railroad workers and federal troops led to several deaths. After this tragic event, Congress passed and President Grover Cleveland signed into law legislation that established the first Monday in September as the federal holiday of Labor Day.
Presidents, governors, and other leaders have issued Labor Day proclamations and given Labor Day speeches. This is a quotation from the Labor Day speech given by Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge on September 1, 1919:
I cannot think of anything characteristically American that was not produced by toil. I cannot think of any American man or woman preeminent in the history of our Nation who did not reach their place through toil. I cannot think of anything that represents the American people as a whole so adequately as honest work. We perform different tasks, but the spirit is the same. We are proud of work and ashamed of idleness. With us there is no task which is menial, no service which is degrading. All work is ennobling and all workers are ennobled.
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper published this image of the “Great Demonstration of Workingmen” parade in New York in September of 1882.
Learn More
This video provides an overview of the history of Labor Day.
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
