Tag: Labor Day

Labor Day 2011

Posted on by Andrew Conard

Although today is the quintessential end of summer, I can’t really recall it having felt like that to me. Growing up, I was usually in school before Labor Day and this was really the end of summer. It may have been a chance to have a picnic or cook out in the backyard – kind of a last hurrah before the fall was to begin in earnest.

This year I have made a big transition to Resurrection West a couple weeks ago, so there isn’t much for me that is hinging on this date. It is looking like a day to relax a bit and spend time with a family. Although, I am not sure that we will be doing any laboring…

How will you spend Labor Day 2011?

Labor Day

Posted on by Andrew Conard
Labor Day Parade, Union Square, New York, 1882...
Image via Wikipedia

Today is Labor Day, of which I did not know the origin until consulting Wikipedia, which reports:

“Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 6 in 2010).

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands ofthe U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2]Cleveland was also concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to theHaymarket Affair.[3] By the 20th century, all 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.”

Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. In any case, I hope you have a wonderful day of labor, rest or a parade (See picture of the first Labor Day parade).