Every third Monday in January, we celebrate the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a national holiday. Dr. King, a southern Baptist minister, dedicated his life to the advancement of the civil rights movement that defined the 1960s. After his assassination in 1968, a push for national holiday in his honor began.
Despite his great legacy, the introduction of a national holiday bill was not met with universal acceptance from legislators or the American people. In fact, it wasn’t until 2000 that every state in the union officially observed the holiday. Today, federal and state offices, banks, and schools close for the day. There are parades and events held throughout the United States to honor Dr. King and to continue his teachings.
Just four days after his death, Michigan Congressman John Conyers introduced the first piece of legislation that would provide for a Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. However, this bill would fall short of passage by just five votes. Coretta Scott King, the widow of the late minister, would not let the bill’s defeat in the House of Representatives derail her mission. The King Center instead turned to support from corporate communities and the general public to gain momentum for the holiday.
Throughout the 1970s, the King Center amassed support for the federal holiday from labor unions, the general public, and public figures. Six million signatures were collected on a petition to reintroduce the law to congress. To this day, it is the largest petition in favor of an issue in United States history. The campaign began to attract large national attention in the early 1980s with the release of musician Stevie Wonder’s single “Happy Birthday”, a track dedicated to King’s life.
Representative Katie Hall of Indiana introduced a new federal holiday bill to Congress in 1983, which passed unanimously by a count of 338 to 90. On November 2, 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law. The President had originally opposed the bill, believing the cost would be too great, however, quickly rescinded his opinion realizing that the margin of passage the bill received would effectively render it veto-proof.
The first National Martin Luther King Day was observed on January 20, 1986, however not every state observed the holiday. The last state to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day was South Carolina, which officially made the day a paid holiday for state employees on May 2, 2000.
