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About a year ago, I purchased the complete Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica from a friend of mine, who found it in old boxes in someone’s cellar while he was at an estate sale. I had no idea then that it was quite a find, historically and intellectually, as this article on Wikipedia states:
“The Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the day. The articles are still of value and interest to modern scholars as cultural artifacts of the 19th and early 20th centuries….”
More on the Eleventh another time; I’ve used it often to get a peek at the past, at how something was perceived or described by thinkers of that time. For now, in honor of the day, I’d certainly send a big “thank you” across the centuries and around the world to the men and women who labored then, and labor still today, to guard our intellectual heritage and keep recreating it in even more comprehensive, substantial, and interesting forms.
Here’s the text of the “Labor Day” entry from the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, 1911, Volume XVI, page 6:
LABOR DAY, in the United States, a legal holiday in nearly all of the states and Territories, where the first Monday in September is observed by parades and meetings of labour organizations. In 1882 the Knights of Labor paraded in New York City on this day; in 1884 another parade was held, and it was decided that this day should be set apart for this purpose. In 1887 Colorado made the first Monday in September a legal holiday; and in 1909 Labor Day was observed as a holiday throughout the United States, except in Arizona and North Dakota; in Louisiana it is a holiday only in New Orleans (Orleans parish), and in Maryland, Wyoming and New Mexico it is not established as a holiday by statute, but in each may be proclaimed as such in any year by the governor.
Happy Labor Day!
Update: I hadn’t looked for articles about Labor Day by any other bloggers before posting this entry, but have since come across a few that you might find interesting:
Two Rockwells for Labor Day from History is Elementary
In Honor of Labor Day: The Top Five Myths about Work from History News Network
. I’m sorry to hear about plumbing problems at your house. I’m pretty sure that it is a quite distraction when you hope to be able to spend times on other interesting...