The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-30
LABOR'S HOLIDAY
TWENTY-THREE YEARS Old
First Union in Savannah in 1859; Labor DaV
Celebrated Since 1882

Sept. 7 is the date set apart as Labor
Day, and as far as possible it will bt
made. general in its observance in Sa.
vannah. The Trades and Labor Assem-,
bly,, representing all the affiliated labor
unions, has determined upon a picnic
and general gala programme as
the best way of marking the
day. The unions will go to
Tybee, where the day will be spent
in merry-making and the programme
of athletic events, as heretofore an
nounced. will be carried out in detail
The prizes for the various events have
been offered by the merchants,
and as many contestants have already
entered there is promise of some close
ly contested events.
The history of Labor Day and the be-
ginnings of organized labor in Savan-
nah and Chatham county covers a
period of almost half century. The
first trade organized in Savannah was
the printers craft, the International
Typographical Union having established
a branch here in 1859. Though the mem
bers composing this first circle were
few, yet they were firmly pledged to the
interests of their organization, and
they managed to live through the rapid
changes of the succeeding years and
are in existence to-day.
Labor Day OF Recent Origin.
The celebration of Labor Day is of
far more recent origin, dating back to
only comparatively few years. The
day was first observed here by the
members of the Typographical Union,
the observance taking the form of a
parade in linen busters and other re-
gala arrayed for the occasion. The
following year the Typographical Union
was again the only one which OBJ
served the day, but on the third year
the printers were joined by the boiler
makers, and since that time the OBJ
servance of the day has become more
general as the organized labor has
grown and strengthened in the South.
In the last two years there have
been twenty-four new unions organ
lied by the local officials, and of this
number two have been formed within
the last week. One of the organizers
stated yesterday that the plans for
the organization of two more unions
were now we'll under way and it is eX
pected that within the next month at
the most the report of their complete
organization could be made to the
Trades and Labor Assembly
Celebrated Since 1892.
The observance of Labor Day, the
day which is looked upon by the labor
element as their especial holiday, has
been recognized as a legal holiday by
the state of Georgia since 1892. The
fight to secure the setting aside Of the
first Monday in September was a hard
one, but it has progressed so rapidly
that to-day there are only seven states
which have not secured some legal &C
tion on the matter. The history OF the
fight for the observance of the day
and the story of it's founding is an in
teresting one, and there are several
records in existence of the days his
tory. The following facts are taken
for the most part from the Massachu-
sets Labor Bulletin:
New York city was the birthplace
of Labor Day-in 1882. But, though it
was the pioneer in this line, the En-
pire State did not officially set aside
day for labor until long after working
men in other states succeeded in having
bills passed by their Legislatures. New
York showed the way, but its Legisla-
ture was slow to act.''
Born in New York City.
The idea of setting aside a day for
the sole purpose of the working people
originated with the Central Labor
Union of New York in 1882, says the
Bulletin. The annual parade which the
body held in September of that year
was looked upon with much favor, and
agitation was at once started toward
having a celebration one day of each
year, the same to be known as Labor
Day. In 1888 the labor organizations of
New York chose the first Monday in
September for their holiday, and in the
following year it was voted by the
combined labor forces to have this day
set apart for their annual demonstra-
ton.
The matter of legalizing Labor Day
was subsequently brought to the at
tention of the Legislature, New York
being the first state in the Union to
have a bill introduced on this subject
It did not become a law until May 6,
1887 being outranked in the passage
of the measure by Oregon (act APP
proved Feb. Fl, 1880. Colorado (act
approved March Is, 1880 and New Jer-
sey (act approved April 8, 1880. Massa-
chusetts was the fifth state to enact
the law, May II, 1887.
The observance of the day rapidly
spread throughout the country and