Richard Windsor, a long-serving East Providence Republican, to designate Aug. Rhode Island established Victory Day in March 1948, almost three years after the end of World War II, when the General Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Rep. 14 deserves special attention for its interplay of state, local, national, and even international politics.” Senate report on the topic.Īs far back as the 1950s, The New York Times wrote that Victory Day – which the paper, like many news outlets then and now, referred to as “V-J Day” – was “always a big legal holiday in Rhode Island.” Author Len Travers, in his “Encyclopedia of American Holidays and National Days,” remarks: “The tenacity of Rhode Island in celebrating Aug. (Arkansas state employees were given their own birthdays off.) While some websites claim Victory Day used to be a federal holiday, too, that appears to be a myth – there is no mention of it in an authoritative 1999 U.S. 14 commemoration, which had been adopted back in 1949, according to state historian David Ware. Rhode Island has been an outlier with Victory Day since 1975, the year Arkansas lawmakers adopted a new list of legal holidays that left off the state’s Aug. It has always been called “Victory Day” on the statute books, going all the way back to its establishment in 1948. And despite what many residents believe, the legal name of Rhode Island’s holiday was never “V-J Day” (short for “Victory Over Japan”). ![]() 14 - when Japan’s surrender was announced in the United States - the holiday is today observed on the second Monday in August. While the actual event that Victory Day commemorates happened on Aug. Monday is Rhode Island’s 73rd annual Victory Day, continuing the state’s custom of being the only place in America that honors the end of World War II with a legal holiday. (WPRI) – Like Del’s Lemonade or the Gaspee parade, Victory Day is one of the Ocean State’s unique summertime traditions. Public transport may operate on a different schedule.PROVIDENCE, R.I. Since Victory Day is a state holiday and not a federal holiday, state and local government offices are closed. Rhode Island was the first state to declare independence from Britain in 1776. This means countries like France and the Czech Republic observe Victory Day on 8th May, while countries further east, particularly those who were part of the Soviet Union celebrate Victory day on May 9th. The war in Europe ended late in the evening of May 8th 1945. While Rhode Island may be the only US state to observe the end of the war, in Europe, a holiday to mark the end of World War II is commonplace. In 1990, the state General Assembly sought to clarify the meaning of the holiday and passed a resolution affirming that, though the holiday would continue, it was "not a day to express satisfaction in the destruction and death caused by nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki." It is also a state with strong union representation, so once a holiday made it onto the state list it is difficult to drop it. Indeed, residents of the state suffered a higher proportion of war deaths than nearly any other state. Rhode Island's continuation of this holiday is said to have been reinforced due to the high number of veterans who retired to the state. Arkansas dropped this holiday in 1955, leaving Rhode Island as the only state that marks the end of World War II with a legal holiday. New York observed V-J Day a few times in the late 1940s, and in 1949, Arkansas adopted a new state holiday - "World War II Memorial Day". The official name of this holiday is Victory day, though many residents still refer to it as V-J Day (Victory in Japan Day) Richard Windsor, a long-serving East Providence Republican. Victory Day was established in Rhode Island by lawmakers in the spring of 1948, three years after World War II ended when the General Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Truman declared 14th August as Victory Day. ![]() The official surrender ceremony took place on September 2nd 1945 on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri. The announcement of the surrender was made by the Japanese in the afternoon of August 15th 1945, though due to time differences it was received when it was still August 14th in the US. History of Victory Dayĭays after the US dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Imperial Japan surrendered bringing World War II to an end. ![]() It commemorates the end of second world war when Japan's surrender was announced on August 14th 1945. Victory Day is a state holiday in Rhode Island, observed on the second Monday in August.
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