Today’s Monday Mission Update will be a short one, as I am traveling back to Baltimore with my family after a brief winter get-away. However, it strikes me that Presidents’ Day is an underappreciated federal holiday in our country for a variety of reasons, and that as a Y its celebration is important.
Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, Presidents' Day was originally known as Washington Day and celebrated on February 22nd. After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, the U.S started celebrating his birthday as well on February 12th. The holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971's Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three day weekends for the nation's workers. So, like several of the holidays in our country, it has both a historical and practical dimension. Pretty much everyone likes a good three day weekend, and pretty much everyone needs one, right?
Well, at the Y, we are open for business today but deeply indebted to arguably America’s two greatest Presidents, without whom we would not have a democratic republic to both enjoy and protect. George Washington could have been our first King, but opted to be a President within a constitutional democracy, running a co-equal branch of government along with Congress and the judiciary. Obviously, that changed everything about our country. Abraham Lincoln understood the evil and destructiveness of slavery, and was willing to lead a fractured and still nascent republic through a violent armed struggle to ensure both the continuance of the country and the elimination of slavery. He ultimately paid with his life for that steadfast commitment.
The Y was created in London in 1844 and in 1851 was established in Boston and then throughout the major cities in the U.S. In the wake of the Civil War, the YMCA played an important role in building more livable cities and towns, meeting the critical human needs of a rapidly industrializing country.
Today, the Y has evolved in so many ways to meet the needs of our always changing communities, but has remained true to its mission of developing the full potential of every individual through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all. Both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln understood that in a democratic republic, for people and families to thrive, local communities needed to survive, and that the federal government (which barely existed under Washington and wasn’t a whole lot larger in Lincoln’s time) wasn’t the primary force for good in the country. The Y is one of the more important private, independent and, dare I say it, long-lasting forces of good in our country and our communities, forever “of the people, by the people, for the people,” to quote Lincoln.
Happy Presidents’ Day!
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland