![]() ![]() Japanese officials said it was harming trade between the two nations, and a local Chamber of Commerce official called the holiday “embarrassing.” However, by the mid-1980s – with Japan’s economic might growing – there was a lively debate about whether Victory Day should be scrapped. Rhode Island was always an outlier: in 1953, the AP described it as “the only state in the union that voted to make V-J a legal holiday,” though two years later the news service acknowledged, “Arkansas celebrates the anniversary also, but as World War II Memorial Day.” Victory Day was established here by lawmakers in the spring of 1948, three years after World War II ended. ![]() Sailors in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii celebrate news of Japan’s surrender in August 1945. 14 deserves special attention for its interplay of state, local, national, and even international politics,” Len Travers writes in the “Encyclopedia of American Holidays and National Days.” As far back as the 1950s, The New York Times declared that the holiday – which it called “V-J Day” – was “always a big legal holiday in Rhode Island.” “The tenacity of Rhode Island in celebrating Aug. (And yes, the official legal name of the holiday in Rhode Island is Victory Day, not “V-J Day,” despite what many residents think.)Įxperts say Rhode Island has been on its own since 1975, when Arkansas dropped its version of the holiday – dubbed “World War II Memorial Day” there – and reportedly gave state workers their birthdays off as a consolation. Monday is the 68th annual Victory Day in Rhode Island, making the state still the only one to observe a legal holiday marking Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. (WPRI) – Like Del’s, Victory Day is a uniquely Rhode Island tradition.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |