Labor Day often means barbecues, music festivals, and beach trips for Americans celebrating the holiday. Parades, in particular, have been part of Labor Day festivities since its earliest days. Even before Labor Day became an official national holiday in 1894, labor activists in several states were already holding annual parades.
On September 5, 1882, the Central Labor Union organized the nation’s first parade celebrating organized labor in New York City. The event began that morning at City Hall Park in downtown Manhattan with a group of jewelers from Newark marching to “When I First Put This Uniform On,” a song from an opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. As spectators and other groups joined them, the parade’s ranks swelled to the hundreds and then thousands. Parade-goers included shoemakers, horseshoers, printers, cigar makers, house painters, bricklayers, and piano makers. News reports estimated the total number of participants ranged from 10,000 to 20,000 people.
The parade proceeded up Broadway, circled Union Square Park—where reviewing stands had been set up—and continued north toward Reservoir Square (now Bryant Park) on 42nd Street. After the parade, many went to Elm Park, at 92nd Street and Ninth Avenue. There, people “enjoyed a picnic” and listened to speeches by prominent labor advocates, according to The New York Times.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image (top) on August 22, 2025, showing a modern view of key parts of the original parade route. The newspaper illustration, a woodcut print published in 1882, shows crowds watching the parade in Union Square Park.
Following the parade, several states declared state holidays, but it took more than a decade and the Pullman Strike in Chicago for Congress to make Labor Day a national holiday in 1894.
References & Resources
- Bowery Boys History (2022, September 5) How New York newspapers covered the first Labor Day—September 5, 1882. Accessed August 28, 2025.
- Governing (2021, September 3) A Short History of America’s First Labor Day Celebration. Accessed August 28, 2025.
- Library of Congress Labor Day. Accessed August 28, 2025.
- The New York Historical (2014, August 26) In honor of Labor Day: a photographic tribute to New Yorkers at work. Accessed August 28, 2025.
- Stewart, E. (1936) Origin and Significance of Labor Day. Monthly Labor Review, 43(2).
- U.S. Department of Labor History of Labor Day. Accessed August 28, 2025.
- U.S. Department of Labor Labor Daze: Pride, Chaos and Kegs on Labor’s First ‘Day.’ Accessed August 28, 2025.
- U.S. House of Representatives The First Labor Day. Accessed August 28, 2025.
- USA Today (2024, September 2) First Labor Day parade: Union Square protest was a ‘crossroads’ for NYC workers. Accessed August 28, 2025.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang , using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey . Historical woodcut print courtesy of the Library of Congress . Story by Adam Voiland .
