All Around Pennsauken

Earlier today, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross announced that the Peter J. McGuire memorial and gravesite is now part of the National Register of Historic Places.

“While many people know that Peter J. McGuire is the ‘Father of Labor Day,’ they don’t often know he lived in Camden and was buried in Pennsauken. This remarkable man, with South Jersey roots, understood the American workforce is our greatest asset and honoring his achievements with this historic landmark is the least we can do,” said Congressman Norcross. “I’ve spent my career working as an electrician and fighting for New Jersey’s working families – and Peter J. McGuire set the stage for all of that. I’m humbled that – as just a kid from Pennsauken – I’m in a position to properly memorialize my hometown hero.”

“I am extremely proud that the Peter J. McGuire’s gravesite and memorial in Pennsauken’s Arlington Cemetery is now part of both the National Register of Historic Places and the New Jersey Register,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “Peter J. McGuire was a key advocate in the fight for respect and fairness in the labor workforce and helped to improve the lives of all workers. That’s why my administration approved the state designation and continues to support Congressman Norcross’ work to honor the legacy of Peter J. McGuire.”

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of our country’s historic buildings, districts, sites, structures and objects worthy of preservation. It was established as part of the National Historical Preservation Act of 1966 and is overseen by the U.S. National Park Service.

Norcross said that obtaining the two historic approvals so far was only possible because of the research conducted by historian Robert Shinn.

“Those who helped produce the research to qualify Peter J. McGuire’s Memorial and Gravesite for the National Register of Historic Places were thrilled, but not surprised, to learn that the United States Department of Interior recently approved the nomination,” said Robert Shinn, Treasurer of the Board of the Camden County Historical Society and principal author of the nominating document. “We were not surprised because McGuire was simply a great American, and this honor was long overdue. While McGuire is most famous for being the father of Labor Day, which he proposed in 1882, our research confirmed that he was a labor leader of transcendent national significance in the history of the United States for having founded and led both the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and the American Federation of Labor and, of perhaps equal or greater importance, for having organized and successfully led the eight-hour work day movement.”

Shinn added, “Credit for this successful nomination must be shared with Congressman Donald Norcross, Robert Fisher Hughes, President of the Pennsauken Historical Society; Michael Tapken, Tri-State assistant to the regional manager of the Keystone Mountain Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters and curator of the Carpenters Tool and History Museum in Philadelphia; and Kathleen Rossell, great-granddaughter of Peter J. McGuire, who shared McGuire’s diary, letters, and papers, and family archives and photographs to support the nomination.”

Norcross’ Peter J. McGuire Labor Day Landmark Act in Congress designates the memorial and gravesite as a National Historic Landmark, which means it would be deemed exceptional because of its abilities to illustrate U.S. heritage and formally designated by the Secretary of the Interior. While properties listed in the State and National Registers are primarily of state and local significance, National Historic Landmarks reflect places of significance for the entire country. The Act is endorsed by the AFL-CIO and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.