February 18, 2019

Today, February 18, is Presidents’ Day in the United States. The annual holiday honors the nation’s presidents, especially George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. It is celebrated on the third Monday in February. The birthdays of Washington and Lincoln fall near the holiday. Washington, the nation’s first president, was born on Feb. 22, 1732. Lincoln, who served as president during the American Civil War (1861-1865), was born on Feb. 12, 1809. Ironically, because the holiday is on the third Monday of the month, it can never fall precisely on February 12 or February 22.

George Washington was born on Feb. 22, 1732, and served as the first president of the United States. Credit: Oil painting on canvas (1796) by Gilbert Stuart; © World History Archive/Alamy Images

A federal holiday called Washington’s Birthday also occurs on the third Monday in February. It became a legal public holiday in 1971. Later, many states adopted Presidents’ Day instead, to honor not only Washington, but other presidents as well, especially Lincoln. Presidents’ Day is sometimes called Washington-Lincoln Day. Banks, government offices, libraries, and schools close on the holiday, but most private businesses remain open.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, was born on Feb. 12, 1809. Credit: Library of Congress

In the late 1870′s, Arkansas Senator Stephen Wallace Dorsey suggested adding Washington’s birth date to the four bank holidays previously approved in 1870. Signed into law on Jan. 31, 1879, by President Rutherford B. Hayes, the law was implemented in 1880 and applied only to District of Columbia federal workers. Washington’s Birthday was the first federal holiday to single out an individual’s birth date. (In 1986, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., became a holiday celebrated on the third Monday in January.)

In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill which moved a number of federal holidays to Mondays. With the implementation of the new federal law in 1971, Washington’s Birthday became a national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February.

August 16, 2018

In 2018, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding in 1968. The National Portrait Gallery exhibits likenesses of people who have contributed significantly to the history, development, and culture of the United States. As part of its 50th anniversary program, the museum updated and relaunched its celebrated collection of presidential portraits in late 2017. The collection kicked off 2018 with the February unveiling of its two newest works: portraits of former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The National Portrait Gallery unveiled its new painting of President Barack Obama on Feb. 12, 2018. Credit: Barack Obama (2018), oil on canvas by Kehinde Wiley; Smithsonian Institution

The National Portrait Gallery has the only complete collection of U.S. presidential portraits outside the White House. The gallery’s revamped collection, called “America’s Presidents,” differs from the White House’s, offering alternate versions of portraits and presenting them in a much grander style. It is not all just paintings, either. Bas-reliefs, busts, coins, death masks, hand casts, photographs, sketches, videos, and newspaper articles accompany the portraits, offering multiple and sometimes tactile bridges between art, history, and reality. The presidential exhibition’s thorough modernization includes improved lighting, new labels and wall texts, and the addition of interactive touch screens allowing visitors to explore the context of each president’s time in office.

Gilbert Stuart’s full-length portrait of George Washington welcomes visitors to the America’s Presidents exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Credit: George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) (1796), oil on canvas by Gilbert Stuart; Smithsonian Institution

America’s Presidents showcases the first 44 presidents, starting with Gilbert Stuart’s full-length “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington. Recently restored for the exhibition’s relaunch, Washington’s portrait stands tall at the entrance, beckoning people within. Stuart’s famous unfinished “Atheneum” portraits of Washington and his wife, the first First Lady Martha Custis Washington, flank the Lansdowne painting to each side. 

This portrait of Abraham Lincoln shows him as he looked in 1860. Credit: Abraham Lincoln (1887), oil on canvas by George Peter Alexander Healy; Smithsonian Institution

Inside, visitors experience a walking timeline of U.S. history, passing from president to president as if they were there to shake your hand and personally tell you the glories and trials of their administrations. The exhibition is divided into chronological sections: 1789-1827: Building the Presidency; 1828-1860: Democracy and Expansion; 1861-1900: The Crisis of the Union; 1901-1932: Social Reform; 1933-1989: Negotiating World Peace; and 1990-2017: Contemporary Presidency.

This unique portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt is part of the “1933-1989: Negotiating World Peace” section of the America’s Presidents exhibition. Credit: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1945), oil on canvas by Douglas Chandor; Smithsonian Institution

Not every president gets equal time, however. Six presidents are given extra attention because of their significant impact on the office: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.

This portrait is one of three of President Ronald Reagan included in America’s Presidents. Credit: Ronald Reagan (1991), oil on canvas by Everett Raymond Kinstler; Smithsonian Institution

December 19, 2017

Two hundred and forty years ago today, on Dec. 19, 1777, American troops of the Continental Army set up camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The camp spanned an area between Valley Forge Creek and the Schuylkill River, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia. General George Washington and his troops stayed at Valley Forge until June 1778, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). The winter months were difficult for the Americans, who suffered from cold, hunger, and disease.

This house at Valley Forge National Historical Park was George Washington’s headquarters during the winter of 1777-1778. Here the general coordinated the daily operations of the Continental Army. Credit: © Delmas Lehman, Shutterstock

Washington led his troops to Valley Forge after discouraging defeats at nearby Brandywine and Germantown. These losses left Philadelphia, at that time the American capital, under British control. Washington’s soldiers had little food and too little clothing to protect themselves from the cold. The Continental Congress could not provide more supplies for them. The army of about 10,000 lived in crude log huts that they built themselves. On Dec. 23, 1777, Washington wrote: “We have this day no less than 2,873 men in camp unfit for duty because they are barefooted and otherwise naked.” An estimated 2,500 soldiers died at Valley Forge. Many others were either too weak or too sick to fight because of a smallpox epidemic.

This map shows the Valley Forge encampment from Dec. 19, 1777, to June 18, 1778. Washington’s headquarters, top left, is at the confluence of the Schuylkill River and Valley Forge Creek. Credit: Library of Congress

The winter at Valley Forge tested the loyalty of the American troops. Only dedicated patriots stayed with the Continental Army. Many people criticized Washington, but he held his position at Valley Forge throughout the winter and spring. He improved his troops with the help of Baron von Steuben, a former Prussian soldier. Steuben drilled the soldiers in a system of field formations. By spring, Washington had a disciplined, well-trained army. The news of the alliance between France and the United States reached Valley Forge on May 6, 1778. It cheered Washington and helped him move successfully against the British in June.

Winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, was a difficult period for the Continental Army. General George Washington, depicted here on horseback, led his discouraged troops through several months of hardships. Credit: Library of Congress

Washington’s Continental Army generals at Valley Forge included von Steuben, Anthony Wayne, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, James Mitchell Varnum, and Marquis De Lafayette. Future president James Monroe, then a young lieutenant, and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton also wintered at Valley Forge.

May 12, 2014

The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., reopened today, after a nearly three-year effort to repair damage caused by an earthquake in August 2011. The 5.8-magnitude quake, whose epicenter lay about 85 miles (135 kilometers) southwest of the capital, had rumbled under much of the northeastern United States. The shaking loosened stones in the hollow monument, damaged an elevator, and caused some 150 cracks to appear on its outer surface. The cracks left the structure vulnerable to Hurricane Irene, which rolled over the Eastern Seaboard a few days after the earthquake. Water seeped in, especially at the monument’s pyramid top. Despite the damage, National Park Service officials said that the monument remained structurally sound.

A team of engineers inspects the Washington Monument for damage in September 2011. A month earlier, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake rattled Washington, D.C., and other parts of the northeastern United States. (AP Photo)

The 555-foot (169-meter) obelisk was built as a tribute to George Washington, the American colonists’ military leader during the American Revolution and the first president of the United States. Completed on Dec. 6, 1884, the monument was dedicated on Feb. 21, 1885. It opened to the public on Oct. 9, 1888. The construction was financed by public donations and some government funds. The recently completed $15-million repair project was funded equally by a donation from David Rubenstein, an American financier and philanthropist, and an appropriation by Congress. The monument is among the most popular attractions in Washington, D.C. Added during the repair project were new exhibits on the top floor.

Additional World Book articles:

• Martha Custis Washington
• Mount Vernon
• First in War, First in Peace… But Not in Libraries (a Special Report)

Let’s start at the beginning. The first federal holiday honoring an individual–the father of the country and first U.S. president, George Washington–was enacted by Congress in 1879. It gave federal employees in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., the day off on Washington’s birthday, February 22. In 1885, the holiday was extended to all federal employees, including postal employees. Businesses highly dependent on the mail followed suit, closing on February 22 as well.

                George Washington           (Oil painting on canvas (1796) by Gilbert Stuart; The Granger Collection))

                Abraham Lincoln                  (Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (1908), oil on canvas by Douglas Volk (Granger Collection))

A Buffalo, New York, druggist named Julius Francis made it his life’s mission to honor Abraham Lincoln, the martyred 16th president who had led the nation through the Civil War (1861-1865). Francis repeatedly petitioned Congress to establish a national holiday on Lincoln’s birthday–February 12. He also organized the first known observance of the day, which took place in Buffalo in 1874. Congress never established Lincoln’s birthday as a national holiday. However, several northern states, including Lincoln’s home state of Illinois, did enact legislation giving school children a holiday on February 12. The observance was usually reinforced by special lessons on Lincoln’s achievements and place in history.

Celebrations surrounding February 12 and February 22 remained unchanged until 1971. About this time, Congress moved around some federal holidays, including Washington’s Birthday, to create three-day weekends. Instead of celebrating the holiday on Washington’s actual birthday, the holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February. At the same time, Illinois’ congressional delegation proposed honoring Lincoln by calling the holiday “presidents’ day.” However, representatives from Virginia blocked the move “to protect the prerogatives of ‘The Father of Our Country’.” The passage of 106 years had failed to soften the attitude of some toward “the great emancipator.”

Led by Illinois, some states did adopt the term “Presidents’ Day” for the third Monday in February. Although people of certain age seem to recall that President Richard Nixon issued a proclamation turning Washington’s Birthday into a holiday honoring all presidents–including himself–this never happened. His proclamation clearly referred only to Washington.

So, the third Monday of February is, officially, Washington’s Birthday.