Robert E. Lee Day is a state holiday observed on various dates in parts of the Southern US, commemorating the January 19 birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. [1] It is rooted in the Lost Cause myth prevalent throughout the Southern United States , as Lee was a central figure in Lost Cause mythology due to his social status, military ...

Jan 19, 2025 · MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. is set to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday set aside to honor the life of the civil rights icon. But in Alabama and Mississippi, Monday is also Robert E. Lee Day in honor of the Confederate general. The two states recognize King and Lee on the third Monday in January.

Jan 16, 2023 · Alabama is one of just two states in the nation to recognize Confederate leader Robert E. Lee’s birthday on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Jan 12, 2024 · In Alabama and Mississippi, it’s also Robert E. Lee Day, honoring the famed Civil War general of the Confederacy whose birthday falls just days later on January 19. As a 2017 Smithsonian Magazine article put it , the two men were born 122 years, four days and an ideological world apart.

Jan 17, 2025 · Two U.S. states still honor Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the federal holiday set aside for Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Will that change?

Jan 19, 2025 · Alabama lawmakers in 1901 named a January state holiday for Lee. Mississippi did the same in 1910. ... Louisiana in 2022 struck Robert E. Lee Day and Confederate Memorial Day from the list of ...

Jan 19, 2020 · Decades after he lost the Civil War, Confederate General Robert E. Lee got his own holiday in 1889. Some Southern states — especially Alabama and Mississippi — still honor it. Robert E. Lee and Martin Luther King Jr. couldn’t be more different.

Jan 19, 2025 · MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. is set to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal holiday set aside to honor the life of the civil rights icon. But in Alabama and Mississippi, Monday is...

Jan 12, 2024 · Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day — a federally-recognized holiday to honor the life of the civil rights movement icon around his birthday, January 15. In Alabama and Mississippi, it’s also Robert E. Lee Day, honoring the famed Civil War general of the Confederacy whose birthday falls just days later on January 19.

Jan 19, 2025 · Robert E. Lee Day, observed annually on January 19, honors the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, a controversial yet significant figure in American history. Celebrated in some Southern states such as Alabama and Mississippi, this day commemorates Lee’s leadership during the Civil War and his post-war legacy as an educator and ...