The father of Labor Day was only 30 years old

NextGen - Peter J. McGuire – who the AFL-CIO credits as the Father of Labor Day (and May Day) – was just 30 years old when he proposed and shepherded the first Labor Day parade in 1882.

But even before he founded what would become a national holiday dedicated to the dignity of working people, McGuire spent his 20s developing his skills as an organizer and becoming a critical leader to the workers’ rights movement…. 

Born in 1852, McGuire began working at just 11 years old when his father left to join the Union Army. During his teens, he quickly became involved with other agitators like Samuel Gompers – the future founder and first president of the American Federation of Labor.

By 21, McGuire had become a well-known public spokesperson and negotiator. When New York City officials refused to grant a permit for a mass meeting in Tompkins Square Park, McGuire led a sit-in at the police commissioner’s office – securing the permit.

At 25, he moved to Missouri where he organized and won support for the first Bureau of Labor and Statistics in the U.S. – giving policy makers much needed insight into working people’s lives. He was appointed deputy commissioner of the new bureau but left to focus on his biggest passion: organizing workers.

From 27-29, McGuire organized St. Louis carpenters thoroughly and won such impressive wage gains for them that it attracted the attention of carpenters everywhere, leading to the formation of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. They elected him their first secretary.

At 30, he moved UBC’s headquarters to New York where, at a meeting of the New York Central Labor Union, he called for workers to lead “a festive parade through the streets of the city” on the first Monday of September. It was the first Labor Day, and more than 30,000 marchers participated.