Holiday Hours: Labor Day

Boston-born Labor Secretary Frances Perkins was the first woman to hold a Cabinet position and the architect of Social Security.

Labor Day is being celebrated Monday, Sept. 2. Labor Day was established as a federal holiday in 1971 by Congress and is held on the first Monday of September. Read a history of Labor Day here.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The union encouraged the development of a workingman's holiday and a number of states began setting a day aside. Parades and picnics or similar events were not uncommon in its early days; it is now seen as part of the last three-day weekend of the summer prior to the start of school in many localities. 

Massachusetts was among the first states to recognize Labor Day and the first to institute a minimum wage on June 4, 1912.

The fourth U.S secretary of labor, and the first woman to hold a Cabinet position, Frances Perkins, was born in Boston in 1880. Perkins, who attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, is considered the architect of the Social Security Act. The headquarters of the Department of Labor is named after her.

Closed:
Federal, state and local offices; no mail delivery.
Banks; Wall Street
Public colleges and schools, most private schools
Public libraries
Most offices and businesses
BRTA is not running
No trash pickup in Pittsfield; one-day delay

MassDOT update:
Heaviest Labor Day traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) is expected on Thursday and Friday westbound and Monday afternoon and evening eastbound. Motorists are advised to drive in off-peak hours if possible, utilize available technology tools for trips including www.mass511.com, consider public transportation if possible to reach destinations and bring a face-covering as some municipalities have a mask mandate for indoor venues.

All state construction outside of fixed work zones will be halted from 5 a.m. Friday until the start of normal business hours on Tuesday. High-occupancy lanes will open early at 2 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Friday and will be closed on Monday. The Sumner Tunnel will be open during the holiday weekend. 

Sign up at the 511 Traveler Information Service to receive personalized travel information alerts via email, text or telephone. MassDOT as always reminds drivers to avoid using cell phones while driving. Call into the 511 service before departing.   

Colegrove Park Recognized as Top 10 School Statewide in Attendance

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:45PM / Friday, August 30, 2024

Superintendent Barbara Malkas, left, Colegrove Principal Amy Meehan, Mayor Jennifer Macksey and Dean of Students Jonathan Slocum pose with the Celtics basketball award on Friday.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Boston Celtics gave gold to Colegrove Park Elementary School on Friday for scoring in the top 10 schools for attendance statewide. The school saw its chronic absenteeism numbers drop by 11 percent last year. 

 

Tim Connor, assistant director for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's west and central district, arrived with a gold basketball signed by the champion team to reward the students for their achievement.

 

"An award like this doesn't come easy. It takes a lot of work from all of you, the students, the parents, and especially Ms. Meehan and her wonderful staff, so a big round of applause," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey, after leading the assembly in the gym to chants of "Colegrove rocks!" "I am so proud of this school and the community that all of you have built. So everyone should be really excited about today, and this is an excellent way to start your school."

 

Superintendent Barbara Malkas asked last year's fifth-graders at Colegrove to join her at the front of the gym for a special applause. 

 

"When we track attendance of all the students in the whole district, these students have the highest attendance rate, the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the entire district," Malkas said. "While all Colegrove students have been recognized as attendance all-stars, these students led the way in being attendance all-stars, so let's give them one more round of applause."

 

Colegrove switched this year to house Grades 3 to 6, so some of the younger students who helped earn the award are now at Brayton Elementary. However, all three elementary schools open last year saw improvement in attendance. 

 

Schools statewide have been working to reduce chronic absenteeism — the percentage of students missing 10 percent of the school year, or 18 days — which peaked during the pandemic.