National Freedom Day?

[Ross Clark]

While changing the month on a recycled calendar (2014), my eye chanced
to light on February 1, marked "National Freedom Day, USA". What? Never
heard of it. It's not mentioned on the 2025 calendar which started this
whole project.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Freedom_Day

Wiki says it's a United States "observance"...a careful choice of words?
The event commemorated is clear: Lincoln's signing (1/2/1865) of the
joint House and Senate resolution which eventually became the 13th
Amendment, abolishing slavery.

It originated with a campaign by Major Richard Robert Wright, Sr.
(1855-1947), born into slavery and freed after the Civil War, for a day
"when freedom for all Americans is celebrated". It was proclaimed by
President Truman in 1948.

So why did I never hear of it? (I lived in the USA for 7 years, and have
never been very far from hearing and reading about it.)

Clues in the Wiki article: "The President may issue each year a
proclamation designating February 1 as National Freedom Day..."
"may"...or may not. Sounds like it's on a one-year contract.

"On this day, many towns and cities have festivals...Some citizens
reflect privately on the freedoms....It is not a federal holiday."

So it just faded from lack of interest? Or was it superseded by Juneteenth?

What experience have other people had of it?

[Aidan Kehoe]

[...] What experience have other people had of it?

Never heard of it, but of course I’m not an estadounidense and have less direct
experience of the US than you do. I suppose the only useful answers that differ
from this will be from US citizens.

[Stefan Ram]

Post by Ross Clark
While changing the month on a recycled calendar (2014), my eye chanced
to light on February 1, marked "National Freedom Day, USA". What? Never
heard of it.

I've got this collection of calendar dates here, and I keep
stumbling across these off-the-wall commemorative days and
giving them the cold shoulder (though I'm not always sure if
they're as out there in their home turf). For instance:

MMDD
0104 National Trivia Day
0116 National Nothing Day
0120 Reindeer Day
0123 National Handwriting Day
0126 Australia Day
0206 New Zealand Day
. . .
0915 Felt Hat Day, when men of fashion put away their straw hats.
. . .

, and let's not forget:

0402 Doris Day (1924)

. /Tomorrow/ however, is a real day: It's Groundhog day!