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Labor Day is an American holiday that celebrates workers and provides them with a day of rest. Americans observe the holiday on the first Monday of each September. Labor Day was first celebrated in New York City in 1882, but it quickly spread across the United States.
The Ohio legislature formally recognized Labor Day as a state holiday in 1890. John P. Green, a representative in the Ohio house and an African American, introduced a bill that established Labor Day in Ohio. As many Ohioans left their agricultural lives behind to take positions in the state's growing cities, many of these workers welcomed recognition of their important contributions to Ohio's economic growth. Four years later, the United States government established Labor Day as a national holiday.