You should know about John Patterson Green

September 2, 2024 8:31 AM

Father of Labor Day was Black lawmaker from Cleveland. The first Black person elected to office in Cleveland. The second African-American elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. The first African-American elected to the Ohio Senate. As a state representative from Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, he introduced the 1890 bill that made Labor Day a state holiday, four years before the US Congress established the first Monday in September as a national holiday. Green's official Ohio Statehouse biography.
posted by soundguy99 (4 comments total)

Never forget that the US and Canada don't celebrate International Workers' Day on May 1st with the rest of the world because we were too scared of the socialists, so we had to create a different labour day.
posted by ssg at 9:57 AM on September 2 [10 favorites]

And that May 1st was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to commemorate the Haymarket Affair in Chicago. May 1st is Law Day in the USA, thanks to Eisenhower (and the Cold War). Some of us remember large military parades on May 1st in the USSR.
posted by kozad at 10:57 AM on September 2 [4 favorites]

S O L I D A R I T Y
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 11:12 AM on September 2

Solidarity, y'all. Just got back from repping my local at LaborFest. Heard several people say it's the biggest LaborFest turnout in years, which is cool. (Weather was absolutely in our favor, at least.)
posted by humbug at 2:24 PM on September 2 [3 favorites]