Davis's Birthday (redirected from Jefferson Davis's Birthday)

Davis's (Jefferson) Birthday

First Monday in June

The only president of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, was captured and imprisoned after the Civil War but never brought to trial. Since he refused to ask the federal government for a pardon, he went to his grave deprived of the rights of citizenship, including all of his former privileges and properties. It wasn't until October 17, 1978, that his citizenship was restored, posthumously, by President Jimmy Carter when he signed an Amnesty Bill designed to "finally set at rest the divisions that threatened to destroy our nation."
Davis's memory is honored by many white southerners in the United States, and his birthday (June 3) is a legal holiday in Alabama and Florida. In Mississippi the observance is combined with Memorial Day. In Texas it is observed as Confederate Memorial Day, a time when the graves of Confederate soldiers are decorated and memorial ceremonies are held.
At Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, the Confederate Memorial Services are held each year on the Sunday nearest June 3, and a speaker usually pays tribute to those who died while serving the Confederacy. Another important ceremony is the Massing of the Flags, which is held at the Jefferson Davis Monument in Richmond, Virginia. The flags of the various Southern states are presented in the order in which they seceded from the nation.

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, pp. 150, 418
AnnivHol-2000, p. 95
DictDays-1988, p. 61

Celebration days: Jun 6, 2011; Jun 4, 2012; Jun 3, 2013; Jun 2, 2014; Jun 1, 2015