[Ohio-Talk] Happy Labor Day Weekend!

[Cheryl Fields]

Happy Labor Day! Thinking about what this holiday represents and
decided to share the article below with all of you. I had the pleasure
of meeting the late Historian, Booker T. Tall and participating in a
memorial serverce held at the grave of John P. Green some years ago.
Hope you enjoy reading this! Cheryl

John Patterson Green, father of Labor Day in Ohio, and his enduring
legacy (with photo gallery) - cleveland.com
Updated Jan 12, 2019; Posted Sep 01, 2014

By Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio - John Patterson Green is called the Father of Labor
Day in Ohio.
It was 1890, near the beginning of a wave of state legislatures
passing bills making Labor Day a state holiday.
In stepped state Rep. Green, Republican of Cleveland, sponsoring
legislation making Labor Day a state holiday. First elected to the
Ohio House in 1882, he was the city's first black lawyer.
The bill passed April 28, 1890. The legislation is little more than a
paragraph, beginning with: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of
the State of Ohio, That the first Monday in September of each and
every year, shall be know as labor day."
Congress would eventually make Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894.
It was not surprising that Green would be the lawmaker to introduce
the bill creating the holiday in Ohio, said John Grabowski, a Case
Western Reserve University history professor and senior vice president
for research and publications at the Western Reserve Historical
Society.
"His constituents are going to be workers and laborers," he said. "I
think that is what John Green is looking at when he sponsors the
legislation. He is coming from the chief industrial city in Ohio.
Dayton has industry. Cincinnati has industry, but where are the craft
unions centered? Where are the people like Max Hayes, a major labor
leader, centered? Where are the bulk of workers centered? It's
Cleveland."
This Labor Day offers an opportunity to reflect on how the Father of
Labor Day's actions continue to reverberate with each celebration of
this holiday in Ohio -- even if his is a name lost to history. Here is
a look at the man, Cleveland's place in early labor history and the
11th Congressional District Community Caucus Labor Day Parade, whose
founding 43 years ago - as a show of black political power - serves as
testament to Green's enduring legacy.
"I see a very real and direct correlation upon the John Green legacy
and what the 11th Congressional District parade and picnic has stood
for," said retired U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, one of the event's
founders. "What John Green promoted in terms of being the father of
Labor Day here in Ohio, and then tying the community and all of its
concerns and needs together in that Labor Day celebration, is a
natural extension of his legacy," Stokes said.
Trailblazer
Green was born in New Bern, North Carolina in 1845 to a free black
family. His father, who died when Green was 5, was born into slavery,
but purchased his freedom at 21 for $1,000. In 1857, his mother moved
the family to Cleveland, as conditions for free black families in New
Bern worsened due to racial hostility, according to a paper about
Green by Booker T. Tall, the late history teacher, who was passionate
about chronicling the history of Cleveland's black community. The
paper is part of the Western Reserve Historical Society's archives.
The family endured financial hardship in Cleveland, forcing Green to
leave school. Determined to get an education, he returned to school at
21, enrolling in Central High School, where he would graduate three
years later. He would later graduated from the Union Law School of
Cleveland.
In 1873, Green was elected Justice of the Peace, becoming the first
black person to serve in Cleveland's judiciary branch. Less than a
decade later, he would be elected to the Ohio House. In 1892, he was
elected to the Ohio Senate, becoming the body's first black member.
"It is historically accurate that the Cleveland lawyer was the first
Black American to serve as state senator north of the Mason-Dixon
line," Tall wrote.
Green supported or sponsored 21 major bills on behalf of labor, Tall
wrote. He wrote that other notable areas of legislation Green lobbied
for included funding for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Public
Square, the public park system and the historically black Wilberforce
University.
Green was also a strong supporter of civil rights, Tall wrote.
"Although Green did not introduce the Ohio Civil Rights law, he
maneuvered support as senator to preserve it and prevent its
emasculation," wrote Tall. "In addition, the first black senator
mustered the votes to defeat the infamous McDermott Bill, which was
introduced to provide separate schools for black and white children in
Ohio."
Green moved to Washington, D.C. in 1897 after President William
McKinley appointed him to the newly created position of U.S. postage
stamp agent. He served a brief stint as acting superintendent of
finance in the Post Office Department. Green returned to Cleveland in
1906, where he resumed practicing law, according to "The Encyclopedia
of Cleveland History".
In 1920, Green's autobiography, "Fact Stranger than Fiction," was
published. His other writing pursuits included authoring articles for
the Afro-American News Syndicate.
Green's contributions didn't go unnoticed in Cleveland. April 2, 1937,
Green's 92nd birthday, was declared John P. Green Day in Cleveland,
according to Tall.
Green died in 1940, after being fatally struck by a car on St. Clair
Avenue in Cleveland, not far from his East 107th Street home,
according to Tall.
It was Sept. 1 - the day before Labor Day.
Early labor movement in Cleveland
In order to understand Green's support of the labor movement, one must
understand him in the context of his times.
He lived during the period when the early labor movement began taking
hold in northern industrial cities.
Tall wrote that the Haymarket Riot and "serious labor problems" in
Cleveland served as motivation for Green to introduce Labor Day
legislation. Also known as the Haymarket Affair, the event served as
impetus for the Labor Day state holiday movement.
The riot in Chicago in 1886 became a pivotal symbol in the labor
movement's struggle for workers' rights, including an eight-hour
workday. Following a large labor demonstration, police sought to break
up the small number of remaining demonstrators. Someone threw a bomb.
Police responded with random gunfire.
"Seven police officers were killed and 60 others wounded before the
violence ended," according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. (C)ivilian
casualties have been estimated at four to eight dead and 30 to 40
injured."
As for "serious labor problems" in Cleveland, historian Grabowski said
perhaps the earliest of these occurred shortly after the Civil War
when "Cleveland starts to industrialize hugely, and the population
starts to expand."
Perhaps Cleveland's best known labor battles - often bloody -- of the
period, occurred after Labor Day is already a holiday. Grabowski noted
the 1896 strike at the Brown Hoist Co., which made equipment to unload
freighters, for a 9-hour workday, instead of working 10. In 1899,
streetcar drivers went on strike over wages and hours. Fights between
the strikers and replacement workers ensued.
"It was extremely violent," he said.
By the early 1900s, Cleveland was a union town, though most unskilled
workers didn't belong to unions, Grabowski said. He said the increase
in homeownership rates showed the impact of better wages. In 1880,
only 20 percent of Clevelanders owned homes. By 1900, 40 percent were
homeowners.
A 1901 Labor Day souvenir journal in the historical society's
collection showcased the union's successful fight for higher wages.
Flip through its pages, and you'll see victories touted, including
this one by the United Garment Workers of America, Local 42:
"A great many advantages have been gained for the members by the
organization - the 8-hour workday, and an increase in prices so as to
enable them to earn a 'fair' wage per day, the prices paid being on an
average from 25 to 50 percent higher than is paid in the non-union
factories."
Harriet Applegate, who heads the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of
Labor, said such stories of increasing wages and homeownership, were
not only good for the workers, but the economy as well. She said that
was then, as well as now.
"People with good union pay and benefits are fueling this economy by
consuming goods," Applegate said.
"The recipe for the worst possible economy would be to concentrate
wealth," she said. "That is what has been done in the last 35 years or
so to disastrous results."
Green and organized labor were often allies. The historical society's
archives include a letter from the 1893 Labor Day committee inviting
him to participate. But Grabowski said Green often tussled with the
unions about denying black members entrance.
Cleveland's black population was very small in 1900, as it was in most
northern cities. It wasn't until World War I, which tightened the flow
of European immigrants, that blacks began moving North in number. In
1900, Cleveland was the nation's seventh largest city with 381,768
residents, but only 5,988 were black.
Black enrollment in local unions was even lower than their small
percentage of the population.
"Green advocates to increase the number of black workers in trade
unions, but that is not happening," Grabowski said. "The trade unions
at that time were fairly discriminatory."
11th Congressional District Labor Day Parade, a tradition.
Retired Congressman Stokes and the others who began the Labor Day
parade, wanted people to have a good time at the event, but that
wasn't their only reason for starting it.
Each of the organizers knew the power of black political strength, and
they wanted the parade to be a show of it. The other parade founders
were: George Forbes, former Cleveland City Council president and
former president of the local NAACP, Arnold Pinkney, the late
political consultant and powerbroker and the retired Congressman's
late brother, Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of a major American
city.
The first parade, in 1971, along Kinsman Avenue, ending with a picnic
in Luke Easter Park, was held only a few years after the then 21st
Congressional District was formed to increase the chances of black
representation. Stokes became the first black congressman elected from
Ohio. He said the first parade and picnic aimed to harness this new
political power.
"We found a need to utilize that newly formed congressional district
to try to bring the community together for a special day and time,"
said Stokes, the parade's honorary chair. "And also to try to come
together as a community, and to be able to demonstrate the unity and
the power of this particular community."
Stokes said the event didn't just deal in local politics. For example,
he said Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential run could be traced to the
picnic following the parade, when he took to the stage.
"The campaign started here when they said, 'Run, Jesse, run,'" he said.
Before then, Stokes said Jackson was only "talking" about running.
After all these years, the question a boy, perhaps 12, posed to Stokes
that day remains emblazoned in his memory.
"He said, 'Congressman, I didn't know a black man could run?'" Stokes
said. "That was heavy.
"That day was important because he saw that a black man could run for
president," he said. "Today, a black man is president."
Barack Obama was scheduled to attend the event in 2012, but at the
last minute, he had to cancel after Hurricane Isaac diverted him to
Louisiana. Ariane B. Kirkpatrick, the parade's executive chair, said
organizers are still working to get the president to a future parade.
John Kerry, now the U.S. Secretary of State and former Vice President
Walter Mondale attended past parades.
Kirkpatrick, who began attending the parade as a child, said the event
is also a time to celebrate community. Even if she hasn't seen some
people all year, she said there is a good chance she will see them on
the parade route or at the park. This year's parade steps off today
(Monday) at 11 a.m. at East 146 Street and Kinsman Avenue, and ends at
the park.
The parade is also a time for remembrance. This year, Ann Romans, one
of the parade's early organizers, who died this year, will be honored.
She often rode on the back of a motorcycle, speaking through a
bullhorn. This year, the motorcyclist will not have her as a
passenger, but a single rose will mark her place.
Stokes said he is glad, that first Stephanie Tubbs Jones and now
Marcia L. Fudge, who both represented the seat after him, decided to
keep the parade.
Barbara Tubbs-Walker, who is Tubbs Jones' sister, and honorary parade
chair, said the late congresswoman would be glad to see the tradition
continues.
"In the spirit, she will be here," she said.



A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human
life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will
never sit.
--D. Elton Trueblood