International Workers Day, or May Day, is celebrated by the working classes across the globe and is promoted by the international labor movement. It falls on May 1st. In 1889 an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions chose the day to support workers in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago (1886). In Europe, May 1 was historically associated with rural pagan festivals, but that meaning has widely been replaced by associations with the labor movement.
Although its origins are in American laborers' fight for an 8-hour workday, the U.S. does not recognize the holiday. President Cleveland opted for a less politically-oriented Labor Day in September instead. This was to avoid socialist and communist ties to the holiday and to resist support for international working-class unity. Labor Day in the U.S. is celebrated as the informal end of summer with some cities hosting parades for unions and workers. May Day is recognized by dozens of countries as a public holiday, honored with picnics, parties, and rallies in support of workers.
Bund Archives, RG 1400 (Collection is currently closed)
The Bund archives was formed as a topical collection on the Bund's history, and on related topics such as Jewish and general socialist groups, political movements, Yiddish culture, and the Holocaust. The collection is noted for vast quantities of printed matter ranging from illegal propaganda pamphlets to periodicals of Bund's earliest period published abroad and smuggled into Russia, as well as proclamations and brochures printed in clandestine printing shops inside Russia. The collection also includes photographs, posters, minutes, reports, correspondence, financial ledgers, manuscripts, biographical materials.
Starting February 20, 2023 this collection will be closed for the first phase of YIVO’s Jewish Labor and Political Archives Project in order to prepare them for digitization. Should you need materials during their closure, please contact reference@yivo.org for remote reference and reference photograph services.
Jewish Labor Committee collection undated, 1933-1969, I-377
Founded in 1934, the Jewish Labor Committee became an organization that would articulate the Jewish perspective and interests of American Jewish workers on issues of national and international importance, serving as a bridge between Jewish workers and the trade union movement.
Labor Zionist Alliance 1963-1988, RG 1254
Includes correspondence, minutes, publicity materials, photographs relating to activities of the Alliance and of its parent organization, the Labor Zionist Organization of America.
National Committee for Labor Israel Records, I-535
The National Committee for Labor Israel (NCLI) was an American fundraising organization closely associated with Israel's federation of labor and trade unions (Histadrut). NCLI provided financial support for the Histadrut's educational, health, and social programs in Israel through national and regional solicitation campaigns.
Oral History Collection on the Labor Movement 1964-1968, RG 113
In 1963 the YIVO Institute sponsored an oral history project on the history of the Jewish community in America. Its objective was to carry out interviews on various themes with leaders and participants in the development of the American Jewish community and its institutions. The project's first theme was the American Jewish labor movement from the turn of the century to the period of the New Deal.
Posters for May Day events in Poland (Vilna) Collection, RG 28 [Digitized]
Ephemera materials, mostly posters and announcements, for May Day gatherings, celebrations, and general strikes. The collection is in Yiddish, Polish, Hebrew, Russian, and German. It is entirely digitized to access online.
Workmen's Circle Records, undated, 1903-1993, I-304
The Workmen’s Circle (Arbeiter Ring), founded in 1892, became a national order in 1900. It was established as a social and cultural Jewish labor fraternal order to provide members with mutual aid and health and death benefits and to support the labor and socialist movements of the world. Historically, the Workmen’s Circle was closely tied to Jewish unions, the Yiddish labor press, and the Socialist Party. The collection consists of material from the administration, services, individual branches, and schools of the Workmen's Circle. The majority of the collection are publications of the Workmen's Circle relating to conventions and education.
May Day
The History of May Day / Alexander Trachtenberg. New York: International Pamphlets, 1932.
Join the Parade, May 1st, for Peace, Democracy and Labor Unity! / United Labor and People's Committee for May Day. New York, N.Y.: United Labor and People’s Committee for May Day, 1953.
May Day 1937: What It Means to You / Louis F. Budenz. New York City: Workers Library Publishers, Inc., 1937.
May Day in Peking: International Day of Workers Unity, 1952 / Peking: Workers Press, 1952.
דער אלוועלטלעכער פראלעטארישער יאנטעוו / Kharḳoṿ: Tsenṭrfarlag, aluḳrainishe opṭeylung 1931. [Digitized and available online]
ערשטער מַאי : די לַאגע פון די ַארבעטער־מַאסן און זײערע בַאלדיקע אױפגַאבן / Communist Party of the United States of America. Idishe byuro. Nyu Yorḳ: Idbyuro, 1935.
Что нужно знать и помнить каждому рабочему: С приложением: Всемирный рабочий праздник 1-го мая / Воззвание "Союза борьбы за освобождение рабочего класса" / Schweizerisches Ost-Institut. Zheneva: Izd. Soi︠u︡za bor'by za osvobozhdenie rabochago klassa
Labor
The Jewish Labor Bund bulletin. / International Jewish Labor Bund. New York, NY: Coordinating Committee of Bundist and Affiliated Jewish Socialist Organizations in Various Countries, n.d.
The Jewish Labor Movement in America: two views. / Knox, Israel, Workmens Circle, & Jewish Labor Committee. New York : Jewish Labor Committee, 1958.
Labor and the Holocaust : The Jewish Labor Committee and the Anti-Nazi Struggle / Gail Malmgreen; Jewish Labor Commitee. Silver Spring, MD: George Meany Center for Labor Studies, 1991.
Labor rights in the Jewish tradition / Michael S. Perry. New York, N.Y.: Jewish Labor Committee, 1993.
Seventy Years of Life and Labor : An Autobiography / Samuel Gompers; Edited and with an Introduction by Nick Salvatore. Ithaca, NY: ILR, New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell U, 1984. Print.
Unions before the Bar: Historic Trials Showing the Evolution of Labor Rights in the United States / Elias Lieberman. New York: Harper, 1950.