Robert E. Lee Day, also called Lee's Birthday, is a public holiday commemorating the birth of Robert E. Lee, observed each year on the third Monday in January. Because Lee was General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate States, it is mainly observed in the U.S. South, particularly Alabama and Mississippi.
Although Lee's actual January 19 birthdate remains a legal holiday in the Florida statute books, by and large it is not observed. Arkansas combined the observance of Robert E. Lee Day with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1985, after two years of requiring state employees to select between the two holidays or their own birthday as a day off from work. In 2017, it passed a law removing General Lee's name from the January holiday and instead establishing a state memorial day on the second Saturday of October in honor of Lee.
Video Robert E. Lee Day
See also
- List of memorials to Robert E. Lee
- Lee-Jackson Day
Maps Robert E. Lee Day
References
Further reading
- Gore, Leada (October 16, 2015). "Georgia Does Away With Confederate Memorial Day, Robert E. Lee Birthday". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Ala.
Source of the article : Wikipedia