Ever wonder why we get the first Monday of September, of every year, off of school? The occasion is Labor Day, which we’ll celebrate this coming September 6th, 2010. It’s more than a prelude to the end of summer or the start of the football season. Labor Day is a federal holiday “. . . dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” (US Dept. of Labor)
In honor of workers everywhere, learn about Labor Day and/or labor history this year!
Books at the MVCC Library
Staley : the fight for a new American labor movement
Working in America : an eyewitness history
Out to work : a history of wage-earning women in the United States
The speeches and writings of Mother Jones
The unmaking of the American working class
Web
The History of Labor Day
The Origins of Labor Day
A Brief History of the Labor Movement
The Labor Movement
Oral History Project in Labor History
Illinois Labor History Society
Encyclopedia of Chicago: Work Culture
US Labor and Industrial History World World Wide Web Audio Archive
Women Working 1870-1930