Martin luther kings birthday holiday
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Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Political process behind the American holiday
| Long title | A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a legal public holiday. |
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| Enacted by | the 98th United States Congress |
| Effective | January 1, 1986 |
| Public law | Pub. L. 98–144 |
| Statutes at Large | 97 Stat. 917 |
| U.S.C. sections amended | 5 U.S.C. § 6103 |
A United States federal statute honoring the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and his work in the civil rights movement with a federal holiday was enacted by the 98th United States församling and signed into lag by President Ronald Reagan on November 2, 1983, creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The sista vote in the House of Representatives on August 2, 1983, was 338–90 (242–4 in the House Democratic Caucus and 89–77 in the House Republican Conference) with 5 members voting present or abstaining,[1] while the final vote in the S
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Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by a white racist in Memphis, TN. Just hours before, King had given a speech to city sanitation workers who were on strike. King was a charismatic, eloquent, and highly visible leader of the non-violent civil rights movement in America. He had won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Almost immediately, there were calls for ways to memorialize King and preserve his legacy.
On April 8, 1968 John Conyers (D MI-1) introduced HR 16510, to make King’s birthday a “legal public holiday.” The bill was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. [See Congressional Record-House 4/8/1968, p. 9187.] The Committee took no action on the legislation.
Consistently thereafter, bills to create a MLK holiday were introduced in the House, sponsored by Conyers and others.
Carter’s Support
Not until 1979, in the Administration of Jimmy Carter, did any of these bills even get out of committee, much less reac
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In 1984, Congress established the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to coordinate the inaugural observance of King Day and plan its celebrations. Coretta Scott King, who originally proposed its creation, served as chair of the commission, which included members of Congress, presidential appointees, and prominent leaders from the business, labor, religious, civil rights, and entertainment sectors. The commission was charged with creating new traditions for the holiday. Mrs. King was among numerous holiday activists who aimed to center the observance on Dr. King's philosophy of nonviolence, while President Ronald Reagan’s appointees sought to emphasize themes such as respect for the Constitution, Christianity, and individual rights. Over time, the commission's influence waned as Reagan appointed Black conservatives to counter Black liberals within the organization. Coretta Scott King withdrew from public life. The commission ultimately disbanded in 1996 after King’s se