Celebrate working men, women

Submitted by Canton1 on

Labor Day holiday honors those ‘who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold’

Labor Day is a bit of a misnomer. While it may seem like a day devoted to work, many workers in the United States don’t work at all on Labor Day.

Labor Day is much more than the unofficial end to summer.

While road trips and backyard barbecues are now staples of Labor Day, the origins of the holiday bear little resemblance to the celebrations of today.

Labor Day in the United States dates back to the 19th century, though its origins are still debated by historians.

According to the United States Department of Labor, recent research supports the idea that Labor Day was the brainchild of machinist Matthew Maguire, who supposedly devised the idea in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. Others attribute the holiday to Peter J. McGuire, a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor and general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.

Historians say the first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York. This was based on plans from Maguire’s Central Labor Union. 

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