I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 149 

To designate the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite 

located in Pennsauken, New Jersey, as a National Historic Landmark, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. NORCROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To designate the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter 

J. McGuire Gravesite located in Pennsauken, New Jersey, as a National Historic Landmark, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Peter J. McGuire 

5 Labor Day Landmark Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Peter J. McGuire joined the Cabinet Mak2 ers Union of New York in 1872 and, recognizing the 

3 need for one international union of wood workers, 

4 called for and led a convention of carpenters and 

5 joiners in Chicago in 1881 that formed the Brother6 hood of Carpenters and Joiners which became the 

7 United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of 

8 America in 1888. 

9 (2) The Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners 

10 elected McGuire its first general secretary and re11 tained him in that position for twenty years. 

12 (3) McGuire was a leader in convincing skep13 tical, locally minded union activists around the 

14 United States that a national labor federation was 

15 not only necessary, but also possible. 

16 (4) McGuire co-founded with Samuel Gompers 

17 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor 

18 Unions and, in 1886, reorganized it into the Amer19 ican Federation of Labor. 

20 (5) McGuire served variously as the American 

21 Federation of Labor secretary and vice president be22 tween 1886 and 1900. 

23 (6) McGuire successfully led the fight for the 

24 eight-hour day in 1890. 


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1 (7) In 1882, McGuire proposed that ‘‘one day 

2 in the year be designated as Labor Day’’, a proposal 

3 that was adopted first by a number of States and 

4 then as the first Monday in September by an Act of 

5 Congress in 1894. 

6 (8) Upon McGuire’s death in 1906, the United 

7 Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners commis8 sioned from M.C. Lyons and Sons, Camden, and had 

9 installed a massive granite multistage headstone on 

10 McGuire’s gravesite in the Arlington Cemetery at 

11 1629 Cove Road, Pennsauken, New Jersey, inscribed 

12 with ‘‘P.J. MCGUIRE, BORN JULY 6, 1852 

13 DIED FEB. 18, 1906’’ and ‘‘FOUNDER OF U.B. 

14 OF C. & J. OF A.’’. 

15 (9) Beginning in 1906, each year labor leaders, 

16 political leaders, families, and working people gather 

17 at McGuire’s gravesite on Labor Day to lay wreaths 

18 and deliver speeches in tribute to McGuire and his 

19 great work. 

20 (10) As the anniversary of McGuire’s centennial 

21 birthday approached, the organizations he had 

22 helped to found decided to install a new memorial a 

23 short distance from McGuire’s gravesite, consisting 

24 of a central statue of McGuire embraced by a semi25 circular colonnade of marble columns. 


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1 (11) The Peter J. McGuire Memorial, com2 pleted in 1952, includes— 

3 (A) an outdoor sculpture of McGuire, 

4 made of Cherokee Georgia marble, that shows 

5 him standing with his left arm against his chest 

6 and right arm, elbow bent, at his waist, and 

7 dressed in a frock or mourning coat; 

8 (B) an inscription carved on front of the 

9 base of such sculpture that reads ‘‘PETER J. 

10 MCGUIRE/JULY 6, 1852/FEBRUARY 18, 

11 1906’’; 

12 (C) a free-standing curvilinear colonnade 

13 of six Greek Doric columns, also made of Cher14 okee Georgia marble; 

15 (D) an inscription on entablature frieze of 

16 the colonnade that reads ‘‘IN MEMORY OF 

17 PETER J. MCGUIRE FOUNDER OF UBC 

18 AND FATHER OF LABOR DAY’’; and 

19 (E) an inscription on the base of the col20 onnade that reads ‘‘ERECTED BY UNITED 

21 BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND 

22 JOINERS OF AMERICA 1952’’. 

23 (12) Several thousand people, many of them or24 dinary union members, attended the Peter J. 


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1 McGuire Memorial dedication ceremony on August 

2 9, 1952, which featured as speakers— 

3 (A) the president of the New Jersey Fed4 eration of Labor; 

5 (B) the mayors of Camden and Penn6 sauken; 

7 (C) General President Hutcheson of the 

8 United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners; 

9 (D) the president of the American Federa10 tion of Labor, William Green; 

11 (E) the secretary and treasurer of the 

12 American Federation of Labor, George Meany, 

13 who later attained national significance himself; 

14 and 

15 (F) the United States Secretary of Labor, 

16 Maurice Tobin. 

17 (13) In 1956, when a new postage stamp dedi18 cated to American labor was issued on Labor Day, 

19 President Dwight Eisenhower held a special cere20 mony at the White House in which he met with the 

21 family and descendants of McGuire. 

22 (14) In 2004, McGuire was admitted to the 

23 Labor Hall of Fame of the United States Depart24 ment of Labor, which has since been renamed the 

25 Hall of Honor. 


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1 (15) The New Jersey Historic Preservation Of2 fice has documented McGuire as a figure of tran3 scendent national significance and importance in the 

4 labor history of the United States. 

5 (16) The landscape characteristics, physical fea6 tures, overall layout, and visual appearance of the 

7 Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire 

8 Gravesite reflect a high degree of overall integrity in 

9 terms of location, design, setting, materials, and 

10 workmanship. 

11 (17) The sculptural representations of labor 

12 and union themes associated with McGuire’s career 

13 as an effective labor leader and organizer that em14 bellish the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. 

15 McGuire Gravesite are intact and well-preserved. 

16 (18) National political and labor leaders have 

17 made annual pilgrimages to McGuire’s gravesite 

18 since 1906 and to the Peter J. McGuire Memorial 

19 and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite every September on 

20 Labor Day or the Friday before Labor Day since 

21 1952. 

22 (19) Unlike other known properties related to 

23 McGuire, the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter 

24 J. McGuire Gravesite are the only properties that re25 tain both the necessary direct association with 


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1 McGuire as a person of national stature and the 

2 high level of integrity required for listing on the New 

3 Jersey Register of Historic Places and National 

4 Register of Historic Places. 

5 (20) The Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter 

6 J. McGuire Gravesite satisfy the criteria for graves 

7 of historical figures and properties that have 

8 achieved significance within the past 50 years under 

9 the following criteria consideration categories of the 

10 National Register of Historic Places— 

11 (A) category (c), ‘‘a grave of a historical 

12 figure of outstanding importance as there is no 

13 appropriate site or building associated with 

14 McGuire’s productive life’’; and 

15 (B) category (f), ‘‘a property primarily 

16 commemorative in intent if design, age, tradi17 tion, or symbolic value has invested it with its 

18 own exceptional significance’’. 

19 (21) In August 2017, the New Jersey State 

20 Historic Preservation Office certified that the Peter 

21 J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Grave22 site are eligible for listing on the New Jersey Reg23 ister of Historic Places and National Register of 

24 Historic Places. 


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1 (22) On August 22, 2018, the Peter J. 

2 McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite 

3 were added to the New Jersey Register of Historic 

4 Places and, subsequently, on January 17, 2019, 

5 added to the National Register of Historic Places. 

6 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF PETER J. MCGUIRE MEMORIAL 

7 NATIONAL COMMEMORATIVE SITE. 

8 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Peter J. McGuire Memorial 

9 and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite, located in Pennsauken, 

10 New Jersey, is designated as the Peter J. McGuire Memo11 rial National Commemorative Site. 

12 (b) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—The Commemora13 tive Site shall not be considered to be a unit of the Na14 tional Park System. 

15 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 

16 may enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate 

17 public or private entities for the purposes of providing edu18 cational and interpretive facilities and programs for the 

19 public regarding the Peter J. McGuire Memorial National 

20 Commemorative Site. 

21 (d) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 

22 Secretary may provide technical and financial assistance 

23 to any entity with which the Secretary has entered into 

24 a cooperative agreement under subsection (c). 


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1 (e) NO EFFECT ON ACTIONS OF PROPERTY OWN2 ERS.—Designation of the Peter J. McGuire Memorial Na3 tional Commemorative Site shall not prohibit any actions 

4 which may otherwise be taken by any property owners, 

5 including the owners of the Peter J. McGuire Memorial 

6 National Commemorative Site, with respect to their prop7 erty. 

Æ 


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