This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I take a deep dive into the origins of Labor Day. It's a holiday that most Americans these days take for granted. But it was born out of the crisis of the Gilded Age, that tumultuous last third of the 19th century that saw both the US economy boom … [Read more...]
The Birth of Labor Day
Back in the late nineteenth century Labor Day meant something more than a three-day weekend and the unofficial end of summer. This unique holiday was first celebrated on September 5, 1882. On that day thousands of workers in New York City risked getting fired for taking an unauthorized day off to … [Read more...]