Samuel Gompers, who founded the union umbrella group American Federation of Labor famously remarked that Labor Day is one of the few holidays that belongs to everyone. Whereas most holidays celebrate military victories in wars of power of greed, Labor Day, he said, transcends sect of creed. Gompers’ compatriot and AFL co-founder Pete McGuire may have been the first to propose the holiday, to show worker solidarity and mark a day in celebration of those who “from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.”

On this day, September 5, in 1882, around 10,000 workers gathered in New York City to participate in America’s first Labor Day event. Workers paraded from City Hall uptown to 42nd Street, meeting their families at Elm Park for a day of revelry and political speeches.

New York’s Labor Day festivities were still celebrated on a local level, although legislation was introduced in the state congress and similar events were inspired across the country. Oregon became the first state to make the holiday official in 1887, followed by Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York. In 1894, by the time Congress passed legislation making Labor Day a national holiday, more than half the states already had it on their books.