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The roots of International Women's Day (March 8th) go all the way back to New York City in 1909 and the Socialist Party of America. However, from what I have learned the International Women's Day is today little known or celebrated in the US (correct me if I'm wrong).

The same goes to International Worker's Day, or May Day (May 1), which goes back to 1885 and the American Federation of Labor (AFL) fighting for the 8-hour work day.

I've heard this may have something with their socialist roots because Russia (USSR) is the country championed these two holidays.

I am sure International Children's Day (June 1) is the case because it is celebrated on June 1 in most Communist and post-Communist countries even though it seemed to first started in US too.

Is this the case for International Women's Day, and is the status of International Worker's Day (May Day) in the US related?

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  • @Qiulang邱朗 I think they do need to be separate questions because in UK - the BBC and many paers had large stories for Womens day - May Day tends to be political and won't have that large media coverage and I have not heard of Childrens' Day - so I think the answers will be unconnected
    – mmmmmm
    Commented Mar 9, 2023 at 3:15
  • @mmmmmm The reason I put them together is because I believe they are the same reason, ie the political reason, these 3 holidays all have their socialist roots.
    – Qiulang 邱朗
    Commented Mar 9, 2023 at 3:21
  • @mmmmmm - I've edited to make the relatedness of May Day a secondary question, rather than inherently part of the question. Hopefully that's good enough.
    – T.E.D. ♦
    Commented Mar 9, 2023 at 3:22
  • In the UK, the May Day holiday was introduced (by a Labour government) in the 1970s, but, like most of our public holidays, it is held on the nearest Monday to May 1. For centuries, celebrations marking the start of summer had been held on May Day, and I don't think the holiday is particularly associated with workers by the general public.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Mar 9, 2023 at 9:33
  • @T.E.D. I seem to remember that the question with downvote but no answer will be auto-deleted by bot. I hate to see the effort we spent in it is wasted (that is why I always hate downvote without any explanation). I did some research, which seems to confirm my suspect that it was because of political reason. But I never live in the US so I don't want to provide the answer I don't experience, so maybe you can provide an answer ?
    – Qiulang 邱朗
    Commented Mar 10, 2023 at 1:55

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Labor Day became a federal holiday specifically because Grover Cleveland felt May Day was too Socialist. Labor Day was actually celebrated first in the US (in 1882), though once International Workers Day was organized (1884) American workers celebrated that as well. May Day became associated with the Haymarket Affair shortly after its inception. Cleveland wanted to downplay it, and chose to recognize Labor Day as a way of placating American workers while dispersing the now-radicalized May Day.

Women's Day is very different. It was originally celebrated in late February for its first few years of observance; the March 8th date was established by Clara Zetkin and Lenin. By the time it was codified as an international thing by the UN in 1975, its origins (and importance) were long-forgotten.

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