Labor Day in the U.S.A. is on Monday, Sept. 2. Most Americans will celebrate it by taking the day off. I wonder how many of them appreciate the history and meaning of Labor Day.  

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, grew out of the American labor movement in the 19th century. It is dedicated-and rightly so-to “the social and economic achievements of American workers.” It is our way of paying our annual national tribute to the countless contributions American workers have made to the power, prosperity and well-being of our nation.

Slowly, but surely, our nation has come to realize and recognize the meaning and importance of Labor Day. First came municipal ordinances in 1885 and 1886. From these  tentative steps, a movement emerged to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced in the New York state legislature. However, the first bill to become state law was enacted by Oregon on February 21, 1887. Later that year, four more states - Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York - passed Labor Day holiday laws. By the end of that decade, Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania had also done so. And by 1894, 23 other states had followed suit to honor American workers. On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of every year a legal federal holiday.  

President William Howard Taft signed the act creating the U.S. Department of Labor on March 4, 1913. The Labor Department later became the first cabinet agency headed by a woman: Frances Perkins. She served as secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945. She is the longest-serving person ever to hold that office. She was also a driving force behind FDR’s New Deal policies, including the Social Security System. 

As we celebrate Labor Day this year, remember the goal to honor workers and their achievements originated during one of American labor’s most trying times. In the late 1800s, the Industrial  Revolution in the U.S.A. was at its height. The average American worker toiled away 12 hours a day, seven days a week, just to barely get by. Worse, in some states, children as young as 5 and 6 labored hard in factories, mills and mines around our country, while earning a fraction of their adult co-workers’ wages.

Clearly, America’s workers have come a long way in the years since Labor Day became an official holiday in their honor. We stand today on the shoulders of those generations who paved the way for the progress we’ve made in improving the lot of workers who deserve both recognition and remuneration for their labor. 

Sure, Labor Day also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans. So, let’s make it a day of respite from work and have some fun with family and friends, even as we honor our nation’s workers for their dedication and the dignity of their labor.

Retired Army Col. Thomas B. Vaughn can be reached at tbvbwmi@benlomand.net