Columbus Day Legal Holiday

Based on our review of state staff websites and other sources, only 20 states, as well as American Samoa and Puerto Rico, call Columbus Day on the second Monday in October and consider it a holiday — meaning government offices are closed and state employees have a paid day off. Two decades ago, 25 states and the District of Columbia treated Columbus Day as a holiday, according to the Council of State Governments` full “Book of States.” Actual compliance varies across the U.S., ranging from large-scale parades and events to complete non-compliance. Most states do not celebrate Columbus Day as an official holiday. [28] Some mark it as “Day of Observance” or “Recognition.” Most states celebrating Columbus Day will close government services while others will operate as usual. [29] In 1966, Mariano A. Lucca of Buffalo, NY, founded the National Columbus Day Committee, which campaigned to make Columbus Day a federal holiday. [20] These efforts were successful, and legislation to introduce Columbus Day as a federal holiday was signed into law by President Johnson on June 28, 1968, to come into effect in 1971. [21] [22] Our main sources for this article were the state administration, staff, and staff websites, most of which publish lists of official holidays. We`ve supplemented these lists with reports about local celebrations or their absence from Columbus Day or its many alternatives. Iowa and Nevada do not celebrate Columbus Day as an official holiday, but state governors are “permitted and required” by law to proclaim Columbus Day each year. [50] Several states have eliminated the day as a paid holiday for state employees, while retaining it either as a recognition day or as a holiday for other purposes, including California and Texas. [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [excessive citations] Within a few years, Veterans Day was removed from the holiday list, which was moved by Congress to Monday. Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

Although columbus day is a federal holiday, which means that all federal offices are closed, not all states grant it as a day without work. The holiday has been controversial almost since its inception, and a growing number of states and cities have swapped Columbus Day for “Indigenous Peoples Day” to recognize the painful history and atrocities experienced by nations and tribal communities after the arrival of European explorers. As for the future of Columbus Day, it enjoys strong support from Italian-American groups, and it would be difficult to take paid leave away from federal employees. However, one would expect more local and state governments to extend the party or remove Columbus from it if current trends continue. Since 1971 (October 11), the holiday has been celebrated on the second Monday in October,[23] coincidentally exactly the same day as Thanksgiving in neighbouring Canada since 1957. It is usually monitored these days by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service, other federal agencies, most state government agencies, many businesses, and most school districts. Some shops and exchanges remain open, and some states and municipalities renounce respect for the holiday.

[24] The traditional date of the holiday also follows the anniversary of the United States Navy (founded on October 13, 1775), so both occasions are usually celebrated by the Navy and Marine Corps with a period of imprisonment of 72 or 96 hours. [25] To view the holidays of a specific year, please select the tab titled with the desired year. Columbus Day commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America. It is celebrated every other Monday in October and has been a federal holiday since 1937. Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries in America and elsewhere and a federal holiday in the United States that officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus` arrival in America on October 12, 1492. [a] Columbus Day is determined by the United States. The government as one of 12 federal holidays — along with New Year`s Day, Martin Luther King Jr.`s Day, Inauguration Day, George Washington`s Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day — meaning non-essential employees have a day off. Only a handful of Caribbean countries watch Columbus Day holidays.