Lincoln Today is the holiday commonly known as "Presidents' Day" (a confusing holiday). I still go in to "work".
A funny thing about Presidents' Day is that more than one presidential birthday is being celebrated, i.e. Washington's (Feb. 22) and Lincoln's (Feb. 12) -- formerly two separate holidays in many states.
A funny thing about Presidents' Day is that more than one presidential birthday is being celebrated, i.e. Washington's (Feb. 22) and Lincoln's (Feb. 12) -- formerly two separate holidays in many states.
Washington However, states have all different names for this day, including the formerly-Southern state of Virginia. (Formerly because in the mid-2010s here, with Northern Virginia's millions of people, Virginia is tipping into being something else.)
Virginia calls it "George Washington Day", excluding old Honest Abe.
Virginia calls it "George Washington Day", excluding old Honest Abe.
Virginia also celebrates "Lee-Jackson Day" (two Confederate generals), instead of "Martin Luther King Jr. Day".
That was a Richmond decision, though. Typical Northern Virginians of the 2010s here would cringe at "Lee-Jackson Day". I remember when I was at college in Northern Virginia, the local college authorities had to decide to give only one Monday off in the spring semester and axe the other: MLK Day or Presidents' Day (i.e., "George Washington Day"). They decided to retain MLK Day and have classes as-normal on Presidents' Day. (I remember Arlington Public Schools similarly refusing to touch MLK Day when snow-days called for one holiday to be cancelled.) The move by the college prompted a professor of Geography, one of my favorites, a part-AmericanIndian from Oklahoma, to criticize their PC decision: If you're deciding who is more important to the history of the USA, how can MLK possibly take precedence over George Washington?
That was a Richmond decision, though. Typical Northern Virginians of the 2010s here would cringe at "Lee-Jackson Day". I remember when I was at college in Northern Virginia, the local college authorities had to decide to give only one Monday off in the spring semester and axe the other: MLK Day or Presidents' Day (i.e., "George Washington Day"). They decided to retain MLK Day and have classes as-normal on Presidents' Day. (I remember Arlington Public Schools similarly refusing to touch MLK Day when snow-days called for one holiday to be cancelled.) The move by the college prompted a professor of Geography, one of my favorites, a part-AmericanIndian from Oklahoma, to criticize their PC decision: If you're deciding who is more important to the history of the USA, how can MLK possibly take precedence over George Washington?
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