Casimir Pulaski Day | |
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Observed by | State of Illinois; city of Chicago |
Type | state holiday; city holiday |
Date | First Monday in March |
2011 date | March 7 |
2012 date | March 5 |
2013 date | March 4 |
Related to | General Pulaski Memorial Day |
Casimir Pulaski Day is a holiday observed in Illinois on the first Monday of every March in memory of Casimir Pulaski (March 6, 1745[1] – October 11, 1779), a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born in Poland as Kazimierz Pułaski. He is known for his contributions to the U.S. military in the American Revolution by training its soldiers and cavalry.
The day is celebrated mainly in areas that have large Polish populations, such as Chicago. The focus of official commemorations of Casimir Pulaski Day in Chicago is at the Polish Museum of America where various city and state officials congregate to pay tribute to Chicago's Polish Community.
This is a separate holiday from the federal holiday, General Pulaski Memorial Day, which commemorates Pulaski's death from wounds suffered at the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779.
Illinois enacted a law on September 13, 1977, to celebrate the birthday of Casimir Pulaski and held the first official Pulaski Day celebrations in 1978. The bill was introduced by State Senator Norbert A. Kosinski, a Democrat from Chicago, and signed by Thomas C. Hynes, President of the Senate on June 26, 1977. Chicago Public Schools, Cook County government offices, the Chicago Public Library, Springfield Public Schools, and state-wide public and private schools close on this holiday.
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The holiday is also observed in Wisconsin public schools:
Section 118.02, Wisconsin Statutes, identifies certain days for "special observance" in its public schools. Among these is "Casimir Pulaski Day", to be commemorated annually on March 4 (s. 118.02(5), Wis Stats).
Section 118.02, Wis Stats, provides for these "Special Observance Days" that, "...when school is held or, if the day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, on a school day immediately preceding or following the respective day, the day shall be appropriately observed...." The use of "shall" denotes this as a mandatory requirement. Each public school in Wisconsin must observe Casimir Pulaski Day on March 4. How the day is observed -- "appropriately" -- allows for some discretion among the schools.
In 2010, Wisconsin Public Schools are to observe in some appropriate fashion Casimir Pulaski Day on Thursday, March 4. In 2011, this would be observed on Friday, March 4. In 2012, as March 4 falls on a Sunday, Casimir Pulaski Day would be observed on Monday, March 5, coinciding with the holiday in Illinois.
Buffalo, New York also acknowledges a "Pulaski Day," apparently unrelated to either the Chicago-Wisconsin regional holiday or the October memorial day. The Buffalo Pulaski Day is held, without explanation, in the middle of July, and is celebrated with an annual parade.[2]
On November 6, 2009, President Barack Obama signed a joint resolution of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives making Pulaski an American citizen, 230 years after his death.[3]
Grand Rapids, Michigan hosts a "Pulaski Days" celebration annually on the first full weekend of October in recognition of General Pulaski and the Polish culture in general.[4]
Michigan-born songwriter Sufjan Stevens titled a song "Casimir Pulaski Day" on his album Illinois. The song interweaves a fictional account of star-crossed lovers with the locally recognized holiday Casimir Pulaski Day as indicated by the lyric, "... in the morning, in the winter shade, on the first of March, on the holiday..."
Big Black, a Chicago-based post-hardcore band active between 1982 and 1987, have a song titled "Kasimir S. Pulaski Day".