June 23, 1906

On this date, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon of Illinois broke a gavel while putting the House into the Committee of the Whole for further consideration of a bill. The Speaker banged the gavel hard enough to knock off the head, which landed between the clerks on the lower tier of the rostrum. Instances of gavels breaking during a session were not uncommon. Speaker Champ Clark of Missouri broke two gavels during the opening session of the 62nd Congress (1911–1913) while Speaker of the House John Nance Garner of Texas broke three gavels during his first week at the rostrum in 1931. Tired of breaking gavels, Garner reportedly ordered an “unbreakable” gavel to be made of black walnut and treated with a special curing process. Speaker Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine was known as such an enthusiastic gavel wielder that he splintered the rostrum desktop. When the felt from his desktop was replaced late in the 51st Congress (1889–1891), visitors obtained the wood splinters as souvenirs. Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas acquired an eclectic collection of gavels made from historic lumber. One gavel was reportedly made of timber dating to the burning of the White House in 1814. Of gavels Speaker Rayburn once said, “In the Speakership, the gavel becomes almost a part of the office.” He continued, “It’s habit. Any gavel you use has a lot of sentiment attached.” As in the past, most House gavels are still created in the House Carpentry Shop.

June 28, 1894

On this date, President Grover Cleveland signed S. 730 into law declaring Labor Day as a national holiday. Since 1883, Labor Day had been celebrated at the local and state level. From 1887 to 1894, 23 states enacted a Labor Day holiday. However, it alternated between either the first Saturday or Monday of September. On June 26, 1884, Chairman of the House Labor Committee, Lawrence McGann of Illinois, introduced the Senate bill in the House, replacing an earlier House version introduced by Amos Cummings of New York. The legislation passed with no objection. With remarkable speed, the bill cleared the Senate in one week and was forwarded to the President. The response to the new holiday was overwhelmingly positive. Labor unions in cities such as Boston, Nashville, and St. Louis celebrated with parades and picnics. Large turnouts in Chicago (30,000) and Baltimore (10,000) underscored the holiday’s popularity. At the first official Labor Day parade in Chicago, Chairman McGann reminded the revelers, “Let us each Labor day, hold a congress and formulate propositions for the amelioration of the people. Send them to your Representatives with your earnest, intelligent endorsement, and the laws will be changed.” Over time, Members of Congress began utilizing their role as participants in numerous Labor Day holiday parades as a means to reach out to constituents.

June 28, 1983

On this date, Representative Sala Burton of California was sworn in as a Member of the 98th Congress (1983–1985). Congresswoman Burton was elected in a special election to succeed her late husband, Phillip Burton. The former Congressman often referred to his wife as his better political half, “the popular Burton.” He added, “I keep Sala busy repairing all the fences I've busted.” Having long been active in California politics in her own right, Sala Burton was a natural choice to fill her husband’s unexpired term. Once in Congress, she received Phil Burton's assignments on two committees: Education and Labor and Interior and Insular Affairs. She also received an assignment on the Select Committee on Hunger during the 98th and 99th Congresses (1983–1987). Congresswoman Burton championed many of the same interests she had worked for during her decades as a leading figure in the California Democratic Party: civil rights, women's reproductive rights, the environment, and world peace. Burton set out, in her own words, “to represent, as my husband did, the dispossessed, the hungry, the poor, the children, people in trust territories, the aged—those people who don't have a lot of lobbying being done for them.” The Congresswoman was easily re-elected to the 99th and 100th Congresses (1985–1989). Sala Burton passed away in the early months of the 100th Congress and was succeeded by Nancy Pelosi.