Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Day in San Angelo

SAN ANGELO – Government offices, schools, banks and businesses across San Angelo and the United States are closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday.  

According to Angelo State University, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.) is a federal holiday marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, which is around King’s birthday, January 15. The holiday is similar to holidays set under the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.   

King was the chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The campaign for a federal holiday in King’s honor began soon after his assignation in 1968. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

According to the San Angelo NAACP website, an observance was planned for Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023 at Ft. Concho.