“Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers ” (U.S. DOL website). The first Labor Day holiday was on September 5, 1882, in New York City, following the plans of the Central Labor Union. In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday; the idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated throughout the country.

The MHS Press/Borealis Books has a long tradition of honoring American workers, from millers to meatpackers, fishers to farmers. The following are some of our best offerings to help you understand the vital, daily labor that built our region and continues to keep us strong.

  By These Hands: Portraits from the Factory Floor, photographs by David L. Parker

The Haymakers: A Chronicle of Five Farm Families, by Steven R. Hoffbeck

Mill City: A Visual History of the Minneapolis Mill District, ed. by Shannon M. Pennefeather

Packinghouse Daughter: A Memoir, by Cheri Register

  Calling This Place Home: Women on the Wisconsin Frontier, 1850-1925, by Joan M. Jensen

A Union against Unions: The Minneapolis Citizens Alliance and Its Fight Against Organized Labor, 1903-1947, by William Millikan