For the 237th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the Daughters of the American Revolution offered “Constitution Minutes.” Here is our fourth. (The Nathaniel Massie Chapter of the DAR offered local events on Constitution Day, September 17th.)
Constitution Minute – The Genesis of Constitution Day and Constitution Week
According to some sources, Iowa schools were the first entity to recognize 17 September as Constitution Day in the early 1900s. This was taken up by the Sons of the American Revolution, who formed a committee in 1917 to promote the day.
In 1939, a new song, “I am an American” promoted an “I am an American Day” at the New York World’s Fair. In 1940, Congress designated the third Sunday in May as “I am an American Day.” In 1941, Congress declared this day “Citizenship Day” to acknowledge those who had become naturalized U.S. citizens. On 29 February 1952 Congress moved this day to 17 September.
Then, in 1955, the NSDAR petitioned Congress to set aside 17 to 23 September as Constitution Week. The resolution was adopted and signed into law by President Eisenhower on 2 August 1956.
Forty-one years later, in 1997, Louise Leigh founded Constitution Day, Inc. After taking a course in constitutional history, she was passionate about having others become as informed. Therefore, she was determined to have 17 September declared “Constitution Day” to complement the existing Constitution Week. Two specific allowances of the law were to be included: on September 17, annually, the head of every federal agency was to provide each employee with educational materials concerning the Constitution, and each educational institution receiving federal funds should hold a program for students.
This resolution was adopted by Congress and signed into law by President George Bush on 8 December 2004. In California, Leigh’s achievement was acknowledged with the DAR Medal of Honor in 2006, sponsored by the Martin Severance Chapter, NSDAR, and presented to her in special ceremony at the California State Society’s State Headquarters.
It is thanks to individual citizens, working with others, that we celebrate Constitution Day and Constitution Week from 17 to 23 September each year.
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia offers resources for Constitution Day, and Wikipedia has its version of the day’s history.
