Robert E. Lee Day

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.[1] The holiday is observed in the U.S. South,[2] particularly in Alabama[3] and Mississippi.[4][5]

Robert E. Lee Day
Robert E. Lee in 1870
Also called	Lee's Birthday
Observed by	Alabama Mississippi Florida (on January 19)
Type	State holiday
Significance	Confederate General in Chief's birthday
Date	Third Monday in January
2019 date	January 21  (2019-01-21)
2020 date	January 20  (2020-01-20)
2021 date	January 18  (2021-01-18)
2022 date	January 17  (2022-01-17)
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Confederate Memorial Day Lee-Jackson Day

Although Lee's actual January 19 birthdate remains a legal holiday in the Florida statute books, by and large it is not observed.[6] Alabama and Mississippi, celebrate it together with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 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.[7] 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.[8] Robert E. Lee Day is also celebrated in Tennessee.[9]

See also

• List of memorials to Robert E. Lee
• Lee–Jackson Day

References

1. "Tennessee Gubernatorial Proclamation of January 3, 2013" (PDF).
2. Berkow, Ira (November 10, 1990). "Sports of the Times: Dr. King and the Super Bowl". New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
3. Little, Becky (January 13, 2017). "The Controversial History of Martin Luther King Day". National Geographic. Retrieved January 16, 2017. Three states celebrate civil rights leader Martin Luther King and Civil War General Robert E. Lee on the same day.
4. Holpuch, Amanda (January 14, 2017). Written at New York. "Mississippi city faces backlash after calling MLK Day 'Great Americans Day'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved January 16, 2017. The incident, however, highlighted an awkward truth about Mississippi’s Martin Luther King Jr Day: that it is also Robert E Lee Day.
5. "Robert E Lee's Birthday in the United States". timeanddate.com. Time and Date AS. n.d. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
6. Mettler, Katie (January 19, 2016). "Today in Florida, it's Robert E. Lee Day". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 16, 2017. Government offices do not close down. Children are still in class. Not even the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Tampa do anything special on Jan. 19.
7. "Arkansas Ends Robert E. Lee-Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday". NBC News. March 22, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
8. Associated Press (March 17, 2017). "Arkansas lawmakers vote to remove Robert E. Lee from holiday honoring MLK". Politico. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
9. Allison, Natalie (July 12, 2019). "Gov. Bill Lee Signs Nathan Bedford Forrest Day Proclamation, Is Not Considering Law Change." The Tennessean (Tennessean.com). Retrieved July 12, 2019.

Further reading

• Gore, Leada (October 16, 2015). "Georgia Does Away With Confederate Memorial Day, Robert E. Lee Birthday". The Birmingham News. Birmingham, Ala.