Peter J. McGuire Labor Day Landmark Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 149 To designate the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite located in Pennsauken, New Jersey, as a National Historic Landmark, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. NORCROSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To designate the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite located in Pennsauken, New Jer- sey, as a National Historic Landmark, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Peter J. McGuire 4 Labor Day Landmark Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 149 IH (1) Peter J. McGuire joined the Cabinet Mak- 1 ers Union of New York in 1872 and, recognizing the 2 need for one international union of wood workers, 3 called for and led a convention of carpenters and 4 joiners in Chicago in 1881 that formed the Brother- 5 hood of Carpenters and Joiners which became the 6 United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of 7 America in 1888. 8 (2) The Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners 9 elected McGuire its first general secretary and re- 10 tained him in that position for twenty years. 11 (3) McGuire was a leader in convincing skep- 12 tical, locally minded union activists around the 13 United States that a national labor federation was 14 not only necessary, but also possible. 15 (4) McGuire co-founded with Samuel Gompers 16 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor 17 Unions and, in 1886, reorganized it into the Amer- 18 ican Federation of Labor. 19 (5) McGuire served variously as the American 20 Federation of Labor secretary and vice president be- 21 tween 1886 and 1900. 22 (6) McGuire successfully led the fight for the 23 eight-hour day in 1890. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 149 IH (7) In 1882, McGuire proposed that ‘‘one day 1 in the year be designated as Labor Day’’, a proposal 2 that was adopted first by a number of States and 3 then as the first Monday in September by an Act of 4 Congress in 1894. 5 (8) Upon McGuire’s death in 1906, the United 6 Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners commis- 7 sioned from M.C. Lyons and Sons, Camden, and had 8 installed a massive granite multistage headstone on 9 McGuire’s gravesite in the Arlington Cemetery at 10 1629 Cove Road, Pennsauken, New Jersey, inscribed 11 with ‘‘P.J. MCGUIRE, BORN JULY 6, 1852 12 DIED FEB. 18, 1906’’ and ‘‘FOUNDER OF U.B. 13 OF C. & J. OF A.’’. 14 (9) Beginning in 1906, each year labor leaders, 15 political leaders, families, and working people gather 16 at McGuire’s gravesite on Labor Day to lay wreaths 17 and deliver speeches in tribute to McGuire and his 18 great work. 19 (10) As the anniversary of McGuire’s centennial 20 birthday approached, the organizations he had 21 helped to found decided to install a new memorial a 22 short distance from McGuire’s gravesite, consisting 23 of a central statue of McGuire embraced by a semi- 24 circular colonnade of marble columns. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 149 IH (11) The Peter J. McGuire Memorial, com- 1 pleted in 1952, includes— 2 (A) an outdoor sculpture of McGuire, 3 made of Cherokee Georgia marble, that shows 4 him standing with his left arm against his chest 5 and right arm, elbow bent, at his waist, and 6 dressed in a frock or mourning coat; 7 (B) an inscription carved on front of the 8 base of such sculpture that reads ‘‘PETER J. 9 MCGUIRE/JULY 6, 1852/FEBRUARY 18, 10 1906’’; 11 (C) a free-standing curvilinear colonnade 12 of six Greek Doric columns, also made of Cher- 13 okee Georgia marble; 14 (D) an inscription on entablature frieze of 15 the colonnade that reads ‘‘IN MEMORY OF 16 PETER J. MCGUIRE FOUNDER OF UBC 17 AND FATHER OF LABOR DAY’’; and 18 (E) an inscription on the base of the col- 19 onnade that reads ‘‘ERECTED BY UNITED 20 BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS AND 21 JOINERS OF AMERICA 1952’’. 22 (12) Several thousand people, many of them or- 23 dinary union members, attended the Peter J. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 149 IH McGuire Memorial dedication ceremony on August 1 9, 1952, which featured as speakers— 2 (A) the president of the New Jersey Fed- 3 eration of Labor; 4 (B) the mayors of Camden and Penn- 5 sauken; 6 (C) General President Hutcheson of the 7 United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners; 8 (D) the president of the American Federa- 9 tion of Labor, William Green; 10 (E) the secretary and treasurer of the 11 American Federation of Labor, George Meany, 12 who later attained national significance himself; 13 and 14 (F) the United States Secretary of Labor, 15 Maurice Tobin. 16 (13) In 1956, when a new postage stamp dedi- 17 cated to American labor was issued on Labor Day, 18 President Dwight Eisenhower held a special cere- 19 mony at the White House in which he met with the 20 family and descendants of McGuire. 21 (14) In 2004, McGuire was admitted to the 22 Labor Hall of Fame of the United States Depart- 23 ment of Labor, which has since been renamed the 24 Hall of Honor. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 149 IH (15) The New Jersey Historic Preservation Of- 1 fice has documented McGuire as a figure of tran- 2 scendent national significance and importance in the 3 labor history of the United States. 4 (16) The landscape characteristics, physical fea- 5 tures, overall layout, and visual appearance of the 6 Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire 7 Gravesite reflect a high degree of overall integrity in 8 terms of location, design, setting, materials, and 9 workmanship. 10 (17) The sculptural representations of labor 11 and union themes associated with McGuire’s career 12 as an effective labor leader and organizer that em- 13 bellish the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. 14 McGuire Gravesite are intact and well-preserved. 15 (18) National political and labor leaders have 16 made annual pilgrimages to McGuire’s gravesite 17 since 1906 and to the Peter J. McGuire Memorial 18 and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite every September on 19 Labor Day or the Friday before Labor Day since 20 1952. 21 (19) Unlike other known properties related to 22 McGuire, the Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter 23 J. McGuire Gravesite are the only properties that re- 24 tain both the necessary direct association with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 149 IH McGuire as a person of national stature and the 1 high level of integrity required for listing on the New 2 Jersey Register of Historic Places and National 3 Register of Historic Places. 4 (20) The Peter J. McGuire Memorial and Peter 5 J. McGuire Gravesite satisfy the criteria for graves 6 of historical figures and properties that have 7 achieved significance within the past 50 years under 8 the following criteria consideration categories of the 9 National Register of Historic Places— 10 (A) category (c), ‘‘a grave of a historical 11 figure of outstanding importance as there is no 12 appropriate site or building associated with 13 McGuire’s productive life’’; and 14 (B) category (f), ‘‘a property primarily 15 commemorative in intent if design, age, tradi- 16 tion, or symbolic value has invested it with its 17 own exceptional significance’’. 18 (21) In August 2017, the New Jersey State 19 Historic Preservation Office certified that the Peter 20 J. McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Grave- 21 site are eligible for listing on the New Jersey Reg- 22 ister of Historic Places and National Register of 23 Historic Places. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 149 IH (22) On August 22, 2018, the Peter J. 1 McGuire Memorial and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite 2 were added to the New Jersey Register of Historic 3 Places and, subsequently, on January 17, 2019, 4 added to the National Register of Historic Places. 5 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF PETER J. MCGUIRE MEMORIAL 6 NATIONAL COMMEMORATIVE SITE. 7 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Peter J. McGuire Memorial 8 and Peter J. McGuire Gravesite, located in Pennsauken, 9 New Jersey, is designated as the Peter J. McGuire Memo- 10 rial National Commemorative Site. 11 (b) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—The Commemora- 12 tive Site shall not be considered to be a unit of the Na- 13 tional Park System. 14 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 15 may enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate 16 public or private entities for the purposes of providing edu- 17 cational and interpretive facilities and programs for the 18 public regarding the Peter J. McGuire Memorial National 19 Commemorative Site. 20 (d) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The 21 Secretary may provide technical and financial assistance 22 to any entity with which the Secretary has entered into 23 a cooperative agreement under subsection (c). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 149 IH (e) NO EFFECT ON ACTIONS OF PROPERTY OWN- 1 ERS.—Designation of the Peter J. McGuire Memorial Na- 2 tional Commemorative Site shall not prohibit any actions 3 which may otherwise be taken by any property owners, 4 including the owners of the Peter J. McGuire Memorial 5 National Commemorative Site, with respect to their prop- 6 erty. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:22 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H149.IH H149 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS