“Happy” Labor Day? Not in 1894, It Wasn’t

When Labor Day became a federal holiday 130 years ago, one could not be faulted for viewing it as the culmination of years of efforts by labor activists who had been advocating for an official day to recognize the contributions of the working class. New York and Oregon were the first to recognize a Labor Day holiday, and by 1894 over half of the states had followed suit.

However, the timing of when the federal government officially recognized it nationally suggests more acute political reasons for the holiday’s origins. President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law on June 28, 1894, days before sending federal troops to Chicago to enforce an injunction against striking railway workers. The famed Pullman Strike—which left 30 dead in skirmishes with authorities—is inseparable from the circumstances leading Congress to create a new federal holiday in its midst.

Today, the first Monday in September is now known more as being the de facto end of summer and the beginning of football and back-to-school season. Like most federal holidays, its meaning is long divorced from its original roots. Consider how Americans awkwardly wish each other a “happy” Memorial Day as they fire up their outdoor grills at the start of summer, or how Presidents’ Day has become more associated with used car sales than as a celebration of George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.

Historical ignorance could be one reason for this cultural apathy. ACTA’s Losing America’s Memory 2.0 survey found that fewer than a quarter of college students knew that “Government of the people, by the people, for the people,” came from the Gettysburg Address. Only 31% knew that James Madison is the Father of the Constitution, and only 27% of students knew that the 13th Amendment was the government action that freed the slaves.

Yet worse is undergraduates’ knowledge of the underpinnings of American government. Six out of 10 could not correctly identify the term lengths of Members of Congress—on a multiple-choice test. Only 37% knew that John Roberts is the chief justice of the Supreme Court. And fewer than one-third knew which branch of government has the power to declare war.

Colleges and universities have a responsibility to reinforce habits of academic rigor and intellectual engagement, yet fewer than one in five of the four-year institutions surveyed in ACTA’s What Will They Learn? project requires students to take a survey course in U.S. history or government prior to graduation. College and university boards of trustees should insist that their institution restore this vital requirement of the core curriculum.