The build up to May Day starts now…
The “father” of Labour Day and of May Day, as well as the founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Peter J. McGuire was one of the most remarkable figures in the history of the American labour movement. McGuire probably did more than anyone else to convince skeptical, locally minded union activists around the country that a national labour federation was not only necessary but also possible. Without his tireless enthusiasm and practical example, the creation of the American Federation of Labor and its survival through its early years are practically inconceivable.
Born in New York City into a poor Irish Catholic family, McGuire quit school at 11 to work when his father went off to fight in the Union Army. While working at odd jobs, McGuire attended the free night classes at Cooper Union, where he met Samuel Gompers and other young firebrands. Apprenticed to a piano maker in 1867 at the age of 15, McGuire was active in laboir and radical circles, including the New York branch of the International Workingmen’s Association.
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