Ravenwood - 01/17/05 06:00 AM
Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was born January 21, 1824. Martin Luther King Jr. was born January 15, 1929. As you can see, coincidence seems to have brought their birthdays together.
Robert E. Lee's birthday has been celebrated as a Virginia holiday since 1889. In 1904, the legislature added the birthday of Stonewall Jackson to the holiday, and Lee-Jackson Day was born. Eighty years later, Republican President Ronald Reagan declared the day in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Virginia, who since 1978 had celebrated King's Birthday in conjunction with New Years Day, made the change and simply tacked him onto Lee-Jackson Day. Thus Lee-Jackson-King Day was born.
In January of 2000, Virginia's Republican Governor James Gilmore asked the Legislature to move Lee-Jackson Day to the previous Friday, which would give Martin Luther King, Jr. a holiday of his own. The Legislature agreed, and the holidays were shuffled around, giving Commonwealth of Virginia employees a nice long 4-day weekend.
I made the personal decision to keep the three men together on one day, as a symbol of unity, justice, and a warm snuggly feeling inside.
So Happy Lee-Jackson-King Day, everyone...
You get a four day weekend? Argh. I have got to move to Virginia. Open Carry AND extra holidays?! Too good to pass up.
Posted by: Adam Lawson at January 14, 2005 11:28 PMOnly state employees get that. I worked Friday and have to work Monday too.
Posted by: Ravenwood at January 15, 2005 1:59 PMOh. Oh well. It's really cool that they have a holiday for Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson, though.
Posted by: Adam Lawson at January 15, 2005 2:54 PMWell, they were both great Virginians.
Posted by: Ravenwood at January 15, 2005 4:47 PMGreat Americans too, even though I disagree with their choice of sides. Lee and Jackson were the last American-born generals to outthink, outmaneuver, and win against vastly superior forces.
Since then, successful American generals have been more like US Grant - who never needed clever strategies, since he always had superior force, but could always find a way to use superior force to win.
Posted by: markm at January 18, 2005 2:28 PMMark,
Excellent point. But the way I look at it, Lee and Stonewall didn't choose sides. They were Virginians and protecting Virginia from hostile invaders. To them, there was no choice.
Lee respectfully resigned from the U.S. Army after they offered him command of the Union forces with the mission of invading Virginia.
Posted by: Ravenwood at January 18, 2005 2:48 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
