Happy Labor Day from your Friends at GoCertify!

Labor Day concept art

Salutations from all of us at GoCertify. It's a regular ol' Monday for most of the world. Here in the United States, however, where GoCertify HQ is located, a great many people are kicking back and taking it easy in honor of the, um, hard work, ingenuity and diligence of the legions of honest laborers whose energetic zeal made America great.

 

To honor that legacy, we've borrowed a short quiz from our friends at Certification Magazine. How much do you know about famous labor leaders in U.S. history? Let's find out!

 

Based on the information provided, can you name each of the following historical figures?

 

1) After leading the famous Pullman Strike as founder and organizer of the American Railway Union (ARU), and subsequently spending six months in prison, this energetic labor activist became a five-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.

 

2) Born March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Ariz., this towering labor hero cofounded the National Farm Workers Association (eventually merged into what is now the United Farmworkers Union), emphasized nonviolent protest, and was noted for his spiritual fasts to gain recognition of his various principles and messages.

 

3) Originally a teacher and dressmaker, this iron lady turned to labor activism after tragedy claimed first her family (her husband and all four of their children died of yellow fever in 1867), and then her livelihood (her dress shop was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871).

 

4) The fourth U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt (during his entire presidency) and Harry Truman, this lifelong labor activist was the first woman appointed to a cabinet position under an American president and managed the Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Administration and Federal Works Agency.

 

5) Born in London in 1850 (his family moved to the United States when he was 13), this mustachioed cigar maker became a key figure in originating and promoting the ideas of labor organization and collective bargaining, helped found the Federation or Organized Trades and Labor Unions (later reorganized into what is now the AFL-CIO), and was a 32nd-degree Freemason at the time of his death in 1924.

 

ANSWERS

 

Labor Day concept art eagle with tools

1) Eugene V. Debs

 

2) Cesar Chavez

 

3) Mary Harris "Mother Jones" Jones

 

4) Frances Perkins

 

5) Samuel Gompers

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About the Author

GoCertify's mission is to help both students and working professionals get IT certifications. GoCertify was founded in 1998 by Anne Martinez.