Alabama's Confederate Memorial Day: Past & Present

0:00Alabama State offices grind to a halt today April 27th for Confederate Memorial Day. License and tag offices, courts, everything state run stays closed. Federal spots and most city halls keep rolling, male delivers on schedule, banks open normal. This hits every year on the 4th Monday in April. Alabama stands with just two other states giving it official holiday status to honor Civil War Dead from 1861 to 1865. It's one piece of three Confederate link holidays here. Third Monday in January mixes Robert E. Lee's birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s. Then Jefferson Davis gets first Monday in June. Pushback from folks wanting to drop these has stirred talks on impacts and history. The tradition kicked off in 1866 when women in Columbus, Georgia rallied to remember fallen soldiers. Around 260,000 troops died in the war total. Alabama made it a state holiday back in 1901. Efforts to scrap these observances even split the Lee King Day.

1:03Keep falling short in the legislature. So the custom holds firm marking a slice of southern past amid today's debates. Stay informed with Birmingham News Today, AI-powered updates.