The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, and planned by the Central Labor Union. In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and hold a “workingmen’s holiday.”
The idea spread, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. In 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a federal holiday. Labor Day was to be observed with a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families.
From LPI website: used with permission.
