The New International Encyclopædia/Labor Day

LABOR DAY. A day set apart as a legal holiday in nearly all of the States and Territories of the United States. In 1882 the Knights of Labor held their general assembly in New York City during the month of September, which on the 5th reviewed a great parade organized by the Central Labor Union of that city. The next year a parade was held on the first Monday in September, and in 1884, on the resolution of George R. Lloyd, one of the Knights of Labor, it was decided that all future parades should be held on that day, and that the day should be known as Labor Day. Workingmen's organizations all over the country then began an agitation to induce the State legislatures to declare the day a legal holiday, and on March 15, 1887, Colorado led the way, to be quickly followed by New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts. The great majority of the States have selected the first Monday in September as Labor Day. In 1903 the only States in which Labor Day was not a legal holiday were Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, and Louisiana.