Freemasonry & the Labor Movement in America

The first Monday in September marks the end of Summer and all across the USA, Americans celebrate Labor Day with picnics, parades, and backyard barbecues.

While the first recorded mention of Labor Day was in September of 1882 at a celebration in New York City, it was President Grover Cleveland who signed a decree in 1894 marking the first weekend in September as a national recognition of an official Labor Day as a national holiday.

More than 60 years before President Cleveland signed his new law, a devout Baptist family was celebrating the birth of their baby boy in Cape May, New Jersey. Born on August 3, 1821, Uriah Smith Stephens was a smart and religious-minded boy and studied to become a minister. However, his family was poor and young Stephens had to set aside his dreams and take a job as a tailor to help the family recover from a financial crisis.