National Colored Union Convention Harpers Weekly 1869

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

 The first Labor Day celebration was held on September 5, 1882, and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labor founded in Philadelphia in 1869 by Uriah Stephens, was also known as Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labor allowed membership by Women and Blacks. Following the collapse of Reconstruction, African Americans mobilized their own Colored Farmers' Alliance and Knights of Labor chapters Stewart M. Lewis, a colored Knight from Washington, D. C., traveled giving lectures to his people on the advantages offered by the order. In the wake of a strike against the Pullman Company by its employees and the harsh ending of the strike by President Grover Cleveland the official holiday was created. President Cleveland seized the chance at conciliation offered by Congressional legislation establishing a day to honor labor, especially labor unions, and in 1894 Labor Day was born. The Lectionary provides a Labor Day Service. According to 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