Work
by Ford Madox Brown, 1865
|
The summer sun is still high in the sky but we all know how
fleeting the wonderful warm months really are. Although the first day of fall
is not until September 22, the Labor Day holiday, on September 2 this year, traditionally heralds the end
of summer here in New England. Many celebrate with the traditional family cookout,
parades, picnics and even fireworks; a sendoff to summer before school begins
again.
Yet, the real reason for the holiday isn’t so we can say goodbye to
summer in style, but to pay tribute to the American worker and their
contributions to the well-being of the country. Below I offer you some multicultural
folktales about workers around the world to add to your repertoire, and of
course some crafts and curriculum resources as well. But first, a little
history of the holiday…
- Labor Day, is the first Monday in September every year and is a creation of the labor movement in the United States.
- The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City.
- Some state that Matthew Maguire proposed the holiday in 1882 when he was secretary of the Central Labor Union of New York. Others argue it was proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in 1882 after he witnessed the annual labour festival in Toronto, Canada.
- Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on February 21, 1887.
- President Grover Cleveland signed it into law as a national holiday in 1894 in an effort to conciliate organized labor after the Pullman Strike.
The above information came from the following websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
STORIES
Gluskabe
Changes Maple Syrup – Native American/Abenaki
John
Henry, the Steel Driving Man – United States
Lazy
Jack – England
Manabozho
and the Maple Trees – Native American/Ojibewe
Stand
the Toil - Swedish
The Devil and the Werewolves – French Canadian
The
Ant and the Grasshopper – Aesop/Greece
The
Calabash Kids – TanzaniaThe Devil and the Werewolves – French Canadian
The
Disobedient Son – Mayan
The Elves and the Shoemaker – Grimm/Germany
The Golden Mountain – Russia
The
Labors of Hercules - Greece
The Little Red Hen – England
The Elves and the Shoemaker – Grimm/Germany
The
Great Drum - Africa
http://www.folktales.net/ujima.html
The Golden Mountain – Russia
The
Hard Working Girl and the Lazy Girl – Hungary
http://tinyurl.com/ptwzmwc
The Hired Hand – Iceland
The
Husband Who Was To Mind the House – NorwayThe Hired Hand – Iceland
The Little Red Hen – England
The
Speaking Stone - England
The Success in Life of Three Brothers – Japan
Apples4theTeacher – Labor Day Coloring Pages
Education World - Great Sites For Teaching About... Labor Day and U.S. Labor History
http://www.educationworld.com/a_sites/sites045.shtml
The Success in Life of Three Brothers – Japan
BOOKS
Apples4theTeacher
– Children’s Books for Labor Day and Community Helpers
CRAFTS
Enchanted
Learning – Labor Day Crafts, Activities
Apples4theTeacher – Labor Day Coloring Pages
CURRICULUM
Education World - Great Sites For Teaching About... Labor Day and U.S. Labor History
http://www.educationworld.com/a_sites/sites045.shtml
National
Education Association - Labor Resources Help Students Learn More About Working Men and Women
http://www.nea.org/tools/lessons/labor-resources.html
The Strike that Shook America – Bread and Roses
http://www.history.com/news/the-strike-that-shook-america-100-years-ago
(My thanks to Nicolette Nordin Heavey for reminding me of this piece of history.)
http://www.history.com/news/the-strike-that-shook-america-100-years-ago
(My thanks to Nicolette Nordin Heavey for reminding me of this piece of history.)
Please note, websites change
at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I
cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links. At the time of this
posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.
Karen Chace 2013 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled
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