Labor History in 2:00

Across the United States, workers enjoy the first Monday of September as their holiday. 

Labor Day has become known as a day for family picnics and community parades—but do you know how Labor Day really started?

On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. That was the day the National Lawyers Guild held their first convention at the Hotel Washington in the nation’s capital. The guild was established as way to bring together progressive lawyers dedicated to fighting “for basic and progressive change in our political and economic system and to assure that human rights be regarded as more sacred than property interests.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1997. If you had theater tickets that evening to see Beauty and the Beast in Seattle, the show did not go on as planned.  Musicians at the Fifth Avenue theater, members of Local 76-493, had been on strike for a week.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1834. That was the day that one of the earliest labor newspapers in the country published its first edition in New York City. The Man was a paper aimed at trade unionists.

On this day in Labor History the year was 1932. That was the day that working people in the United States said goodbye to one of their great heroes. Florence Kelley was born in Philadelphia in 1859. Her father, William D. Kelley, was a U.S. Senator.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1870. That was the day that the powerful labor orator Leonora O’Reilly was born to an Irish immigrant garment worker in New York City. During her lifetime Leonora left her special mark on the labor movement as a member of some of the leading organizations of working people of her day.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1950. That was the day that the Red Scare took its toll on the US Labor Movement. 

The Congress of Industrial Organizations expelled the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers for their alleged Communist ties.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1818.  That was the day that abolitionist Frederick Douglass chose to celebrate as his birthday. He could not be sure of the exact date of his birth, because he was born into slavery. He escaped from slavery and became one of the leading black writers and orators for the cause of abolition.  

What labor union would you say has the coolest name?  The Sons of Vulcan would most certainly have to be in the running. On this day in Labor History the year was 1865.  That was the day the Sons of Vulcan ended their eight-month strike and won a union contract.  The Vulcans were skilled steel workers.  

On this day in Labor History the year was 1913. That was the day that the labor leader known as “Mother” Jones was arrested in West Virginia. She was there to support coal miners during the Paint and Cabin Creek strike of 1912-1913. The West Virginia coalfields were one of the bloodiest sites of labor conflict in US History.