{"id":89633,"date":"2023-02-20T12:02:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T17:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=89633"},"modified":"2025-02-17T13:28:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T18:28:31","slug":"3-facts-about-presidents-day-that-may-surprise-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/3-facts-about-presidents-day-that-may-surprise-you.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Facts about Presidents\u2019 Day That May Surprise You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega tries to clear up some of the confusion about today\u2019s federal holiday: is it Washington\u2019s Birthday, Presidents\u2019 Day, President\u2019s Day, or Presidents Day? Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This week starts off with a three-day weekend, but how much do you really know about Presidents\u2019 Day? The following three facts may surprise you.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Los Angeles Consolidated Electric streetcar decorated for Washington\u2019s Birthday, c. 1892. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1) Is It Called Presidents\u2019 Day or Washington\u2019s Birthday?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is the name of the holiday celebrated today? Your calendar, like mine, may say \u201cPresidents\u2019 Day\u201d but in actuality this federal holiday is officially called \u201cWashington\u2019s Birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington both had February birthdays (Lincoln\u2019s was February 12, Washington\u2019s February 22), but the federal holiday commemorates only Washington\u2019s birthday. However, this holiday has several different name variations in various states, as some states celebrate just Washington, some both Washington and Lincoln, and some celebrate all presidents on this day.<\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s birthday was celebrated prior to it becoming a federal holiday \u2013 in fact, President Lincoln issued an 1862 proclamation that February 22nd<\/sup> should be celebrated in honor of the first U.S. president. (1) This Boston newspaper described some of the celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Boston Morning Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 22 February 1862, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1885 a federal holiday was declared honoring the first president\u2019s birthday. This Rockford, Illinois, newspaper announced that banks would be closed and newspapers would not be printed in honor of Washington\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Daily Gazette (Rockford, Illinois), 20 February 1885, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2) George Washington\u2019s Birthday Is the 22nd <\/sup>\u2013 Why Isn\u2019t the Holiday on That Day?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Historically, Washington\u2019s birthday was celebrated on his actual birthday, February 22. In the 1960s there was a decision to take some federal holidays and change their observance from a specific date to a predetermined Monday, to give workers a three-day weekend. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, signed into law in 1968, altered some holidays including Washington\u2019s birthday. Instead of the holiday falling on February 22nd<\/sup> it was changed to the third Monday in February. (2) This law went into effect in 1971, and because it fell between Lincoln and Washington\u2019s birthdays it became known, unofficially, as Presidents\u2019 Day.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), 1 September 1969, page 22<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3) What about Abraham Lincoln?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We think of today\u2019s federal holiday as \u201cPresidents\u2019 Day,\u201d even though it honors Washington\u2019s birthday. Although there was some federal government discussion about officially changing the name of the holiday to Presidents\u2019 Day, the idea did not pass. However, Presidents\u2019 Day has been the unofficial name for the holiday, especially in the retail world where there are Presidents\u2019 Day (or \u201cPresident\u2019s Day\u201d or even \u201cPresidents Day\u201d) sales over the three-day weekend.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, Nevada), 19 February 2018, page 52<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, what about President Abraham Lincoln? Some states have historically celebrated Lincoln\u2019s birthday. I found mentions of the holiday starting in 1867, two years after his death.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Buffalo Commercial Advertiser (Buffalo, New York), 14 February 1867, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In some states, such as Illinois, his birthday is a state holiday. As mentioned earlier, some states celebrate his birthday alongside Washington\u2019s for today\u2019s holiday, calling it Presidents\u2019 Day instead of Washington\u2019s Birthday.<\/p>\n

Happy Washington\u2019s Birthday\/Presidents\u2019 Day!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether you refer to today as Washington\u2019s Birthday or Presidents\u2019 Day, have a wonderful family day today and think of our former presidents.<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> a poster letting people know that no business will be conducted on Washington’s Birthday (then celebrated on February 22), c. 1895. Credit: Edward Penfield; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/p>\n

______________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cHistory of President\u2019s Day,\u201d Georgia Southern University (https:\/\/georgiasouthern.libguides.com\/c.php?g=1119310&p=8176854<\/a>: accessed 16 February 2023).
\n(2) Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gena Philibert-Ortega clears up some confusion about today\u2019s federal holiday: is it Washington\u2019s Birthday or Presidents\u2019 Day or President\u2019s Day?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":89657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12703],"tags":[938,558,1691,51143],"class_list":["post-89633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays","tag-abraham-lincoln","tag-george-washington","tag-presidents-day","tag-washingtons-birthday"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/photo-0220-2023-featured-graphic-washingtons-birthday.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89633"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89655,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89633\/revisions\/89655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}