Recognizing Labor Day
With the coming holiday weekend, we need to stretch outside of Sherburne County History to explore the origins of Labor Day. Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing to the declaration of a national holiday, the day to celebrate workers remains important. Quarry workers in west Sherburne County The commemoration of labor and working often associated with May 1, May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day. In the United States, in the late 1880s, May Day became more closely associated with radical philosophies often associated with socialism, anarchy, and communism. A variety of more conservative labor unions and activists started promoting the first weekend in September as an alternative; a new Labor Day. The Haymarket Massacre, on 4 May 1886, further solidified May Day as a celebration of radicalism. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to recognize the Labor Day holiday in September. Within 7 years, thirty stat...