Statehood Day orAdmission Day is a legal holiday in the state ofHawaii in theUnited States. It is celebrated annually on the third Friday in August to commemorate the anniversary of the state's 1959admission to the Union. It was first celebrated in 1969.[1]
Statehood bills for Hawaii were introduced into theU.S. Congress as early as 1919 byPrince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, the non-voting delegate sent by theTerritory of Hawaii to theU.S. Congress. Additional bills were introduced in 1935, 1947 and 1950. In 1959, the U.S. Congress approved the statehood bill, theHawaii Admission Act. This was followed by areferendum in which Hawaiian residents voted 94% in support of statehood (the ballot question was: "Shall Hawaii immediately be admitted into the Union as a state?"), and on August 21, 1959 (the third Friday in August), PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th state.
Wording of a Hawaii Senate resolution to organize a celebration for Admission Day 2003. Includes many details of the history of the admission of Hawai'i into the Union.
