Labor Day
Labor Day is this coming Monday, and many people consider it ‘the unofficial end of summer’. Years ago most schools didn’t even start until after the Labor Day holiday, it was simply ‘too hot’ to do so because schools didn’t have “air conditioning’ back then.
Officially Labor Day is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of the workers who made America the greatest industrial society in history. This holiday provides a national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
Congress declared Labor Day as a federal holiday in 1894 even though 30 states already celebrated the holiday. Congress enacted, and President Grover Cleveland signed into law, the holiday legislation to help end the Pullman (railroad car) Company labor strike in which 30 American Railway Union members died at the hands of the US Marshals while attempting to enforce a federal court injunction against the union.
So as you celebrate this holiday, wrapping up that last summer fling (boating at the lake, or camping in the forest, or taking a drive across the state or nation to see relatives, let us remember the American ‘working man and woman’ who have contributed so much, including building those lakes, preserving those forests, and constructing those roadways, along with every other aspect of work to build the society and nation we all know and love.
Murph
PS – and have a ‘Great and safe, Labor Day….’