Happy U.S. Constitution Day & Citizenship Day!
Tuesday, September 17th, is U.S. Constitution Day & Citizenship Day.
Constitution Day commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men, 237 years ago, on September 17th, 1787. The holiday recognizes all who are born in the U.S., or who, by naturalization, have become citizens of the United States of America
This federal holiday is normally observed on September 17th, the day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia. When Constitution Day falls on a weekend or on another holiday, schools and other institutions observe the holiday on an adjacent weekday.
The law establishing the present holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the omnibus spending bill of 2004. Before this law was enacted, the holiday was known as “Citizenship Day” and celebrated on the third Sunday in May. In addition to renaming the holiday “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,” the act mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions, and all federal agencies, provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day [source: wikipedia.org].
According to the Congressional Record, Mrs. A.B. (Clara) Vajda, a Hungarian immigrant to the United States, is recognized as the Founder of Citizenship Day on March 27th, 1941.
By proclamation on September 17th, 2017, President Donald Trump officially reaffirmed the federal holiday status of Constitution Day & Citizenship Day.
