August 29, 2025
That the first Monday of September in each year, being the day celebrated and known as Labor’s Holiday, is hereby made a legal public holiday …
Quote from the passage of Congress making Labor Day a federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed the act on June 28, 1894. The House Committee on Labor’s report on the legislation states that honoring work with a national holiday will ensure “that the nobility of labor [will] be maintained.”
What To Know: 2025 marks the 131st year Labor Day will be celebrated as a federal holiday. It’s one of only 11 – and the last one established in the 19th century. The Congressional Research Service notes, “Federal holidays have been created for a number of reasons. … each holiday was designed to emphasize a particular aspect of American heritage or to celebrate an event in American history.” Some believe the federal government should make Election Day a federal holiday.
The holiday’s founder is debated, but labor unions advocated for the celebration many years before the movement gained steam. It was first celebrated as a local/state holiday in the 1880s. About 23 states celebrated Labor Day before it became a federal holiday.
Did You Know? The first Labor Day parade took place in NYC on Sept. 5, 1882, with “lager beer kegs … mounted in every conceivable place.” Some 10,000-20,000 workers, both women and men, were present to celebrate their trades. The New York Tribune reported: “The windows and roofs and even the lamp posts and awning frames were occupied by persons anxious to get a good view of the first parade in New York of workingmen of all trades united in one organization.” The first Labor Day parade closed with speeches, cigars and (ahem) beverages.
P.S. According to the Emily Post Institute, “Of course you can wear white after Labor Day, and it makes perfect sense to do so in climates where September’s temperatures are hardly fall-like. … The true interpretation is ‘wear what’s appropriate—for the weather, the season, or the occasion.’” The “No white after Labor Day” rule’s origins aren’t entirely clear, but it likely originated among wealthy urban dwellers in the early 1900s.
Read More: Labor Day: Topics in Chronicling America (Library of Congress)
Federal Holidays: Evolution and Current Practices (Congressional Research Services)
History of Labor Day (U.S. Department of Labor)
A fun read from 2014: Why We Can’t Wear White After Labor Day (TIME)
Labor Daze – Pride, Chaos and Kegs on Labor’s First ‘Day’ (U.S. Department of Labor)
Wearing White After Labor Day (Emily Post)
10 fascinating facts about the Labor Day holiday (National Constitution Center)
by Jenna Lee, Founder of SmartHER News
