How Labor Day Became a National Holiday.

Labor Day is observed on the first Monday in September to pay tribute to the contributions and achievements of everyday working families. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

A national economic downturn had begun in 1893 (The Panic of 1893), and the Pullman Company was suffering, along with many other businesses. George Pullman slashed the wages of his workers by 25% or more – but didn’t commensurately reduce their rents or the price of food. Discontented workers joined the American Railway Union (ARU), led by Eugene V. Debs, which supported their strike by launching a boycott of all Pullman cars on all railroads. ARU members across the nation refused to switch Pullman cars onto trains. When these switchmen were disciplined, the entire ARU struck the railroads on May 11, 1894. Within four days, 125,000 workers on twenty-nine railroads had quit work rather than handle Pullman cars. 

Workers leave the Pullman Palace Car Works, 1893.

Despite its size, the strike failed. Violence erupted from strikers and police some of whom were given orders to shoot and kill any demonstrator found destroying property. President Grover Cleveland deployed some 2,000 federal Army troops to Chicago and other areas (the mail wasn’t moving, so the strike had become a national issue). By the end of July, without broader support from other unions, the strike had fizzled and been defeated. During the strike, 13 workers were killed and 57 were wounded.

Following the death of the workers in June of 1894, President Grover Cleveland made reconciliation with the labor movement a top political priority and 23 more states had adopted the holiday. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The History of U.S. Paper Currency from the 1700s to Present Day.

Early American colonists used English, Spanish, and French money under English rule. However, in 1775, when the Revolutionary War became inevitable, the Continental Congress authorized the issuance of currency to finance the conflict.

1775 Continental Currency

Paul Revere made the first plates for this "Continental Currency." Those notes were redeemable in Spanish Milled Dollars, and the depreciation of this currency gave rise to the phrase "not worth a Continental."

Series 1886 Martha Washington One Dollar Certificate - Martha Washington is the first and only woman to grace the primary portrait of U.S. paper currency.

After the U.S. Constitution was ratified, Congress passed the "Mint Act" of April 2, 1792, which established the coinage system of the United States and the dollar as the principal currency unit. By this Act, the U.S. became the first country in the world to adopt the decimal system for currency. The first U.S. coins were struck in 1793 at the Philadelphia Mint and presented to Martha Washington.

The Government did not issue paper money until 1861. In the interim years, however, the Government did issue "Treasury notes" intermittently during periods of financial stress, such as the War of 1812, the Mexican War of 1846, and the Panic of 1857.

During this same period (1793 - 1861), approximately 1,600 private banks were permitted to print and circulate their own paper currency under state charters. Eventually, 7,000 varieties of these "state banknotes" were put in circulation, each carrying a different design!

With the onset of the Civil War, the Government - desperate for money to finance the war - passed the Act of July 17, 1861, permitting the Treasury Department to print and circulate paper money. The first paper money issued by the Government was "demand notes," commonly referred to as "GREENBACKS." In 1862, Congress retired the demand notes and began issuing United States notes, also called legal tender notes.

Series 1889 One Dollar Silver Certificate

Under the Congressional Acts of 1878 and 1886, five different issues of "silver certificates" were produced, ranging from $1 to $1,000 notes. The Treasury exchanged silver certificates for silver dollars because the size and weight of the silver coins made them unpopular. The last series of silver certificates were issued in 1923. However, the previous series of modern silver certificates produced was the 1957B/1935H $1 notes, series 1953C $5 notes, the 1953B $10 notes.

From 1863 to 1929, the Government again permitted thousands of banks to issue their own notes under the National Banks Acts of 1863 and 1864. These were called "national banknotes," but unlike the earlier "state banknotes," they were produced on paper authorized by the U.S. government and carried the same basic design.

In 1913, Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act, establishing this nation's Federal Reserve System. This Act authorized the Federal Reserve Banks to issue Federal Reserve Banknotes. In 1914, the Federal Reserve Banks began issuing Federal Reserve notes - the only currency still manufactured today is by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Construction of the Lincoln Statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

The construction of the Lincoln Memorial took eight years to complete, which included the Lincoln Statue from 1914 to 1922 and opened to the public on May 30, 1922.

Lying between the north and south chambers is the central hall containing the solitary figure of Lincoln sitting in contemplation. The statue was carved by the six Piccirilli brothers, all born in Massa-Carrara, a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy; Ferruccio, Attilio, Furio, Masaniello (aka Thomas), Orazio (aka Horatio, Horace) and Getulio (aka Getty). The statute took the Piccirilli brothers four years to complete under the supervision of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) who was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. 

French devoted several years to researching Abraham Lincoln and studying photographs of him. French decided that the special qualities found in the sixteenth president were his strength combined with his compassionate nature. 

In what ways did French portray these characteristics in his statue?

French depicted the president as a worn but strong individual who had endured many hardships. He positioned Lincoln's hands in a manner that displayed his two leading qualities. One of the president's hands is clenched, representing his strength and determination to see the war through to a successful conclusion. The other hand is a more open, slightly more relaxed hand representing his compassionate, warm nature.

The statue, originally intended to be only 10 feet tall, was on further consideration enlarged so that it finally stood 19 feet tall from head to foot, the scale being such that if Lincoln were standing he would be 28 feet tall. 

The 175-ton statue took 4 years to carve from Georgia white marble and was shipped in 28 pieces.

The extreme width of the statue is the same as its height, 19 feet. The Georgia white marble sculpture weighs 175 tons and had to be shipped in 28 separate pieces. The statue rests upon an oblong pedestal of Tennessee marble 10 feet high, 16 feet wide, and 17 feet deep. Directly beneath this lies a platform of Tennessee marble 34 feet 5 inches long, 28 feet 1 inch wide, and 6 inches high. The statue is subtly bordered by two pilasters, one on each side. Between these pilasters and above Lincoln's head lies an engraved inscription.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.