Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, West Virginia is recognized as the founder of
National Grandparents Day. Her goal in 1973 was to educate the youth in
her community about the important contributions seniors have made
throughout history. She also urged the youth to "adopt" a grandparent,
not just for one day a year, but rather for a lifetime. McQuade organized
supporters and began contacting governors, senators, and congressmen
in all fifty states and urged each state to proclaim their own Grandparents
Day. Within three years, she received proclamations from forty- three states
and sent copies to Senator Jennings Randolph (D-WV).       
 
In February, 1977, Senator Randolph, with the concurrence of many other
senators, introduced a Joint Resolution to the Senate requesting then-
President Jimmy Carter to "issue annually a proclamation designating the
first Sunday of September after Labor Day of each year as ‘National
Grandparents Day’. Congress passed the legislation and President Carter
signed the proclamation on August 3, 1978.
 

Marian McQuade (left) with Senator Jennings Randolph

On September 9, 1942, a Japanese submarine was spotted cruising in an easterly direction raising its periscope occasionally as it neared the Oregon Coastline. Based
on the Sub was a small two passenger float plane (above). It’s mission; a test run to
start a devastating forest fire by dropping two 176 pound incendiary bombs. If they
were successful, Japan had hopes of attacking the eastern end of the Panama
Canal to slow down shipping from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

This event, which caused no damage, marked the only time during World War ll that
an enemy plane had dropped bombs on the U.S. mainland. A major fire had been
averted due to the fact the coastal fog, mist and heavy doses of Oregon rain made
the forests so wet they simply didn’t catch fire.

Fifty years later on 1992, the the Japanese pilot, Nobuo Fujita who survived the war, returned to Oregon to help dedicate a historical plaque (below) at the exact spot
where his two bombs had impacted. The elderly pilot then donated his ceremonial
sward as a gesture of peace and closure of the bombings of Oregon on that day
in 1942. Fujita would return to Brookings 3 more times before his death in 1997,
and the following year his daughter buried some of his ashes at the site of his
famous bombing.

Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita

Fujita is shown with his Yokosuka E14Y (Glen) float plane prior to his flight.

The Memorial Plaque located in Brookings, Oregon at the site of the 1942
bombing

William McKinley (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901) was the 25th President
of the United States. He was elected twice, in 1896 and 1900, but was assassinated
on September 6, 1901 while he and his wife attended the Pan-American Exposition
in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was greeting the public in the concert hall when,
standing in line was Leon Frank Czolgosz (below) waiting with a pistol concealed
by a handkerchief in his right hand. The man fired twice at the president.The first
bullet grazed his shoulder, but the second went through his stomach, pancreas,
and kidney before lodging in his back.

McKinley’s doctors believed he would recover while he was convalesing at the home
of the exposition’s director. His condition gradually worsened and he began to go
into shock. On the afternoon of September 14, 1901, eight days after he was shot, President William McKinley died from gangrene at the age of 58.

President McKinley delivering a speech at the Pan-American Exposition on
September 5, 1901

Depiction of McKinley’s assassination by Leon Czolgosz

Leon F.  Czolgosz was charged with and convicted of first-
degree murder, given the death penalty and was executed
by electric chair on October 29, 1901 at the age of 28.

The first Labor Day observance happened on September 5, 1882, on a Tuesday
at that time, when thousands of workers of the Central Labor Union of New York
marched from Fifth Avenue to Union Square (above), where picnics, fireworks,
and rallies were held, all in support of an 8-hour workday.

It became a national holiday in 1894, following the deaths of a number of striking
Railway Union workers as they were confronted by troops of the Illinois National
Guard during the Pullman Strike. After reaching an agreement with the labor
movement, President Grover Cleveland rushed legislation through Congress
designating the first Monday of September as “National Labor Day”. This was
six days after the end of the strike.

Striking  Railway Union members confront National Guard troops in Chicago
during the Pullman Strike  

Theodore Roosevelt, then U.S. Vice President, delivered a speech at the
Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901 in which included the famous phrase…”Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far”. He was referring
to the idea of negotiating peacefully, but carry a “big stick”, or the military, for
political power. The speech was made twelve days before the assassination
of President William McKinley, which subsequently thrust Roosevelt into  
the Presidency.