Labor Day Is the first Monday in September

In 2005 that is Sept. 5^th
(In Canada it is the same day, except they spell it differently – Labour Day)

The History of Labor Day

http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm
[From the web site above, the following explains the origins and meaning of the 
observance of Labor Day in the United States.]

LABOR DAY: HOW IT CAME ABOUT; WHAT IT MEANS

"Labor Day differs in every essential from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation." 

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a 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.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." 

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

 The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, l883. In l884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in l885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 2l, l887. During the year four more states -- Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York -- created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

 A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday -- a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement. 

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership -- the American worker.

The Origins of Labour Day in Canada

http://affiliates.camosun.bc.ca/cupe/TheOriginsofLabourDay.htm

The Canadian labour movement can justly claim the title of originator of Labour Day. Peter J. McGuire, one of the founders of the American Federation of Labour has traditionally been known as the 'Father of Labour Day'. Historical evidence indicates that McGuire obtained his idea for the establishment of an annual demonstration and public holiday from the Canadian trade unionist. [Continued at the URL above.]

Additional Labor Day Web Sites

The following web sites offer additional information on Labor Day – Its Origins; It’s Traditions; How it Is Celebrated; Sites for Labor Day Greeting Cards and  various other links. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2328/labor.htm 

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/september96/labor_day_9-2.html 

http://www.theholidayspot.com/laborday/ 

Awesome Labor Day Greeting Cards: http://www.marlo.com/labor.htm 

Labor Day Celebration for Kids: http://members.aol.com/KidFun101/KidsLaborDay/HolidayFunPg15BPicPg1.html

Surfing the Net With Kids (Labor Day): http://www.surfnetkids.com/laborday.htm 

Celebrate! Holidays In The U.S.A.
Labor Day

(First Monday in September)
http://www.usemb.se/Holidays/celebrate/labor.html
[The URL above takes you to a story on Labor Day, which begins:]

Eleven-year-old Peter McGuire sold papers on the street in New York City. He shined shoes and cleaned stores and later ran errands. It was 1863 and his father, a poor Irish immigrant, had just enlisted to fight in the Civil War. Peter had to help support his mother and six brothers and sisters.

Social Security Death Index

http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/main.htm

This Ancestry.com site has an excellent search engine. Ancestry.com offers you the most powerful and up to date Social Security Death Index on the Internet! Best of all, the collection is available FREE for Ancestry.com subscribers and guests. The database contains information provided by the Social Security Administration through the end of July 2005 and contains over 74 million records.

RootsWeb Social Security Death Index

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ 
Another SSDI site with a powerful search engine, 75,532,189 records and a full tutorial.

"Along Those Lines ..."

by George G. Morgan
"Railroad Retirement Board Records"
http://www.ancestry.com/columns/george/04-09-99.htm

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board and Genealogical Information After 1936

http://www.rrb.gov/geneal.html 

Railroad Records and Genealogical Information Before 1937

http://www.rrb.gov/geneal2.html 

Researching Occupations Theme Page

[Mostly Canadian]
http://www.cln.org/themes/researching_occ.html

Definitions of Occupations

The following web sites contain lists of old and new occupations and their definitions:

COLONIAL OCCUPATIONS

Thanks to Sam Behling for sharing her list (Sam Behling was Host GFS SAM) http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sam/occupation.html 

Our early American colonists did not have quite the same employment opportunities as we do today. There were no TV producers, car salesmen, rocket scientists, and certainly no computer programmers. The first emigrants to America had occupations concerned primarily with simple, basic survival in the New World. They were, for the most part, skilled laborers, who could make things most of us now only dabble in as hobbies. Some occupational names were self-explanatory such as a blacksmith, locksmith, and gunsmith. Of course there were also occupations with names that are recognizable today - coroner, bookkeeper, barber, cabinet-maker, weaver, baker, brick-layer, accountant, printer and musician.

 Cyndi’s List Occupations

http://www.cyndislist.com/occupatn.htm

Olive Tree Genealogy

Obsolete Occupations
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/misc/occupations.shtml

A List of Occupations

http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/terms.html

The above is a list of occupations of which many are archaic. These are useful to genealogists since surnames often originated from someone's occupation. They also are useful to historians in general.

Colonial Occupations

http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/jobs.htm

Hawaiian Occupations

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/6794/wl-occupations.html
Source: Pukui, Mary Kawena & Elbert, Samuel H., Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised
and Enlarged Edition, University Of Hawai`i Press, Honolulu, 1986

Italian Occupations and their English Equivalents

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/8783/italjobs.html

Old Occupations Explained

http://www.usgenweb.com/research/occupations.shtml

Ranks, Professions and Trades:

Genealogical Research in England and Wales
http://www.gendocs.demon.co.uk/trades.html

Norfolk Occupations

http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/norfolk/occup/

Genealogy Quest Occupations List

http://www.genealogy-quest.com/glossaries/occupations1.html

Old Style Lettering for Occupations

http://www.amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/x-occu.html

Listing From the Book Web Sites for Genealogists, 2004 Edition

by Cora Num
http://www.coraweb.com.au/occsites.htm

Occupations of Yesteryear 1800's

http://www.tngenweb.org/williamson/census/occupations.html

Genealogy Today Help I'm Lost Genealogy Knowledgebase

Formerly "Lost Husband’s Guide to Online Genealogy"
http://www.genealogytoday.com/guide/help/answers.html

Funny Greeting Cards and Occupations

http://peoresnada.com/postman/ng_study.shtml

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