Presidents Day and Presidential Letters is today’s blog post topic with it being Presidents Day kicking off the new week!

Presidents Day and Presidential Letters

Today we are looking at Presidents Day (including a short YouTube on its history) and the collection of  Presidential Letters at the Massachusetts Historical Society.  Because today is a federal holiday there is no mail delivery and all of the USPS locations will be closed.

About President’s Day

This past Friday, February 12th, was Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and although George Washington’s birthday is not until February 22 – the U.S. government recognizes Washington’s birthday on the third Monday in February – now known as Presidents Day. It was unofficially Presidents Day in 1800 and did not become a federal holiday until 1879, and not a national bank holiday until 1885.  It got moved to be observed on the third Monday in February in 1971 including Washington’s birthday with Abraham Lincoln’s (February 12).   It was interesting to read that “Presidents Day never actually lands on a president’s birthday (all of their actual birth dates are too early or too late), according to the History Channel.”

Presidential Letters at the Massachusetts Historical Society

From the Overview:

“… The Massachusetts Historical Society is famous for the thousands of letters of Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Thomas Jefferson held in the Adams Family Papers and the Coolidge Collection of Thomas Jefferson Papers. This guide describes more than 3,500 letters found in other collections written by all U.S. presidents through George H. W. Bush.  While the guide emphasizes letters written during each president’s term of office, it includes an overview of letters written throughout the lifetime of each president.   Although not the main emphasis, the guide also lists some manuscript copies of letters and other important writings such as Washington’s Newburgh Address and Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. The lists of related materials note the existence of printed presidential papers, letters, and works, and other manuscript repositories that hold presidential papers.

As this guide was created for research purposes, documents such as commissions, circulars, and materials containing just signatures with no additional content are not included. Because this guide focuses on letters written by the U. S. presidents, other writings (speeches, pamphlets, books, etc.), artifacts, portraits, photographs, and letters written to presidents are not included.

The guide is organized into forty-five series (one series for each president listed chronologically).  Within each series there can be up to six subseries listed as follows: presidential papers, collections, items, autographs, other materials, and related materials. Letters are described at the collection level (listed alphabetically by collection name) when two or more letters can be found within that collection.”  … <–End of excerpt

Thank you for joining me today for Presidents Day and Presidential Letters.  Here’s to a great week ahead!

Anchors Aweigh,