Labor Day

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

Matthew 11:28

 

The National Colored Convention in session at Washington, D.C. / sketched by Theo. R. Davis.

·         Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, 1869 Feb. 6, p. 85.

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. 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