Illinois REALTORS® headquarters in Springfield — including the Legal Hotline — will be closed Monday, Sept. 2 in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

The office will reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

History of Labor Day

The roots of Labor Day can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s, when manufacturing replaced agriculture as the main source of income for workers. In mines, mills and factories, many workers toiled 12 hour days and seven-day workweeks at low wages. Children as young five years old worked at a fraction of the salaries paid to adults.

Workers started to protest working conditions, and unions formed to help negotiate improvements for workers. On Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to participate in the first Labor Day parade, and workers in other cities across the country took notice. The tradition caught on, and 12 years later, President Grover Cleveland signed the Labor Day holiday into federal law.

The Uniform Holiday Act of 1968 moved several major holidays to Mondays so that federal employees could have more three-day weekends. Other holidays affected by this legislation include Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, George Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day and Columbus Day. Read more about the subject at History.com.