a Better Bubble™

Aggregator

Labor Day Began as a Fight Over Workers' Rights and Recognition

2 months ago
Labor Day began not as a celebration, but as an argument over whose work mattered. For many people, the holiday means a long weekend, store sales, and the informal end of summer. Yet its roots are much more serious. Labor Day grew out of a time when many workers in the United States faced long hours, low pay, dangerous conditions, and almost no legal protection. The holiday was created to honor their role in building the country—and to recognize the pressure workers used to demand fairer

This Day in Music History: Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess,' Beatlemania and Michael Jackson's Chart First

2 months ago
This Day in Music History: September 2 On Sept. 2, 1935, George Gershwin put his signature on the completed orchestral score for Porgy and Bess , a milestone in the effort to create a distinctly American opera. The work, drawn from DuBose Heyward’s novel and play Porgy , brought classical writing into conversation with jazz, blues, spirituals and folk-inflected music. Its songs, including “Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “Bess, You Is My