Eric Reece
Labor Day became an official federal holiday in 1894. Since that time, communities across America have celebrated the sweat and hard work of people who have built our country.
Like many in North Carolina, I grew up in a mill town that had hosiery, textiles and furniture factories. I worked for a few years in a textile mill, and learned a great deal about hard work, people and life.
Many of the mills are gone, but some of the buildings have been repurposed for apartments, venues and multipurpose use.
The mills and community life were intertwined. Many of the mill workers attended church together and their children attended school together. The mills had softball leagues for their workers and sponsored other community events.
In the mill, you worked hard for little pay – but you got by. Many small businesses were brought to life serving the mill and workers, which added to the economy. With the closing of the mills, these soon closed.
In the book of Genesis – as part of the fall of humankind – Adam is told, “In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life … By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” Hard work, sweat became the human lot.
Yet, some relief was given from this curse, God told Moses, “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20: 8-10).
The practice of Sabbath was another gift from Israel to humanity and has been adopted by society.
The Christian Church in America was at the forefront of working to support safe-working conditions and a living wage for workers. This is especially true of the fight to stop the abuse of child labor.
In 1908, the Methodist Church adopted a Social Creed that called for an end to child labor and occupational disease and injuries, fair wages, and a reduction in the long hours people were required to work. When Theodore Roosevelt ran for president in 1912, he quoted much of the Methodist Social Creed in his campaign speeches.
Around this time, a schoolteacher-turned-photographer named Lewis Hines was contacted by the National Child Labor Committee to photograph child labor in mines, mills and factories. He is known for his many photographs of very young children working in Carolina-textile mills.
His photographs are haunting and shocking, as many never realized the extent of child labor in the US. A child-labor law was finally passed in 1938, but today many children still work in the fields harvesting the food we eat.
This Labor Day, we give thanks for workers and the advancements made to help all achieve their goals – while helping to build a better society.
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.