Robert E. Lee's birthday (January 19, 1807) had been celebrated as a Virginia holiday since 1889. In 1904, the legislature added the birthday ofThomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824) to the holiday, andLee–Jackson Day was born.[1]
In 1983, the United States Congress declared January 15 to be a national holiday in honor ofcivil rights leaderMartin Luther King Jr. Since 1978, Virginia had celebrated King's birthday in conjunction withNew Year's Day. To align with thefederal holiday, the Virginia legislature combined King's celebration with the existing Lee–Jackson holiday, in tribute to "defenders of causes."[2]
In 2000,Virginia GovernorJim Gilmore proposed splitting Lee–Jackson–King Day into two separate holidays after debate arose over whether the nature of the holiday which simultaneously celebrated the lives of twoConfederate generals who fought to defend slavery and acivil rights icon was incongruous.[3] The measure was approved andLee–Jackson Day andMartin Luther King Jr. Day were celebrated separately, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day on the third Monday in January andLee–Jackson Day three days earlier on the preceding Friday.[4][5] The Lee–Jackson holiday was itself eliminated in 2020.[6]
