--- description: The story goes back to 1886 title: May Day History: How May 1 Became a Holiday for Workers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2afdf5259e4aaf6e/6987ed14cd1bba7b626f9291/may-day.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Labor](/tag/labor/) ## Labor Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Bloody Story of How May Day Became a Holiday for Workers  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 2:25 PM CUTPublished: May 1, 2015 11:00 AM CUT  Women workers in the May Day Parade in New York City in 1936 Women workers in the May Day Parade in New York City in 1936New York Daily News Archive / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Updated: Jan 24, 2024 2:25 PM CUTPublished: May 1, 2015 11:00 AM CUT Celebrations on May 1 have long had two, seemingly contradictory meanings. On one hand, May Day is known for maypoles, flowers and welcoming the spring. On the other hand, it’s a day of worker solidarity and protest; though the U.S. observes its official Labor Day in September, many countries will celebrate Labor Day on Monday. How did that happen? Like so many historical twists, by complete accident. As TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1929-05-13/page/25 "undefined") in 1929, “To old-fashioned people, May Day means flowers, grass, picnics, children, clean frocks. To up-and-doing Socialists and Communists it means speechmaking, parading, bombs, brickbats, conscientious violence. This connotation dates back to May Day, 1886, when some 200,000 U. S. workmen engineered a nationwide strike for an eight-hour day.” The May 1, 1886, labor action wasn’t just any strike—it was part of what became known as the [Haymarket affair](http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/haymarket.html "undefined"). On May 1 of that year, Chicago (along with other cities) was the site of a major union demonstration in support of the eight-hour workday. The Chicago protests were meant to be part of several days of action. On May 3, a strike at the McCormick Reaper plant in the city turned violent; the next day, a peaceful meeting at Haymarket Square became even more so. Here’s how TIME [summed it up in 1938](http://time.com/vault/issue/1938-05-09/page/77 "undefined"): --- > “” --- In 1889, the International Socialist Conference [declared](http://time.com/vault/issue/1969-05-09/page/45 "undefined") that, in commemoration of the Haymarket affair, May 1 would be an international holiday for labor, now known in many places as International Workers’ Day. In the U.S., that holiday came in for particular contempt during the anti-communist fervor of the early Cold War. In July of 1958, President Eisenhower signed a resolution named May 1 “Loyalty Day” in an attempt to avoid any hint of solidarity with the “workers of the world” on May Day. The resolution [declared](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/statute-72-pg369-2.pdf "undefined") that it would be “a special day for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States of America and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom.” ### Women of Steel: LIFE With Female Factory Workers in World War II  Women laborers clear tracks of spilled materials, Gary, Ind. 1943. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women wearing gas masks clean a blast furnace top at a Gary, Ind. steel mill, 1943. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women employees at Tubular Alloy Steel Corp. in Gary, Ind. predominate at pep meeting, 1943. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Bernice Daunora, 31, a member of a steel mill's "top gang" who must wear a "one-hour, lightweight breathing apparatus" as protection against gas escaping from blast furnaces, Gary, Ind., 1943. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Theresa Arana, 21, takes down temperature recordings at draw furnaces, Gary, Ind., 1943. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Stamping machine in rail mill at Gary is operated by Mrs. Florence Romanowski (right). She mechanically brands identifications into red-hot rails. Her husband is in Army. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Katherine Mrzljak, 34, is one of top gang. She is Croatian, has two children. Husband also works in mill. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women welders, Gary, Ind., 1943. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Scarfing is the operation which removes surface defects from slabs to condition them for rolling. Girl (center) marks out defects with chalk for man who is doing the scarfing (right). Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Beveling armor plate for tanks at Gary Works, these women operate powerful acetylene torches. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Audra Mae Hulse, 20, is flame cutter at the American Bridge Co. in Gary. She has five relatives in plant. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Lugrash Larry, 32, a laborer in Blast Furnace Department, has four children. Husband works in Billet Mill. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Lorraine Gallinger, 20, is metallurgical observer. She is from North Dakota, plans to return after war. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Blanche Jenkins, 39, is welder at Carnegie-Illinois, buys a $50 war bond each month. She has two children. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Flame cutting of a slab is done by four-torch machine controlled and operated by one woman. Alice Jo Barker (above) has a husband and son who also work in war industries. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Pan Man' at Gary Works is Mrs. Rosalie Ivy, a husky Negro laborer. She is mixing a special mud used to seal the casting hole through which molten iron flows from a blast furnace. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Transfer car operator Mae Harris, 23, signals crane man above to return the empty, hot metal ladle to the transfer car (left). The ladle has contained molten iron which has poured into an open-hearth furnace. In the furnace the molten iron is added to molten scrap which, together with iron ore and fluxes, results in finished steel after refinement. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Dolores Macias, 26, of Mexican descent, has a son. She has been a member of the top gang for five months. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Victoria Brotko, 22, is a blacksmith's helper. She took her twin brother's job when he joined the Marines. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Ann Zarik, 22, is a flame burner in Armor Plate Division. (Image of her appeared on issue's cover; see last slide) Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In the foundry of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Co., these women are at work as core-makers. A total of 18 women employed here on two shifts. The core-maker's functions are like those of a sculptor, and the implements used are trowels, spatulas and mallets. Castings being made in this picture are for use not only at Carnegie-Illinois but at other plants. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. On aircraft carrier deck women work as welders and scrapers. Girls alongside this steel prefabricated deck section who are without headgear and masks operate tools which scrape loose surface imperfections in preparation for welding. The welder in foreground has her name, 'Jakie,' written on helmet, a popular style note among lady welders. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Girl metallurgical observer uses optical pyrometer in determining temperature of steel in open hearth. Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  LIFE magazine cover, August 9, 1943. 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