When I taught at Washington State in Pullman WA in the 1960s, they
celebrated "Loyalty Day" in nearby Moscow, Idaho, with a parade
and festivities. I had never heard of Loyalty Day before so I
had thought it was their own idea. There were a lot of far-right
types living in Northern Idaho even then, and our impression was
that they felt they had to find a way to live down the fact that
they lived in a town called Moscow. I always thought that the
comic thing about it was that they chose "loyalty" as the virtue
to set them apart from the other Moscow. Like, we're loyal and
the Russians aren't! If you're trying to set yourself apart from
those who observe labor day on May 1, why can't you come up with
something like "freedom day" or "liberty day"? I have always
thought that "Loyalty Day" represents a failure of right-wing
imagination. Dale Tussing
A. Dale Tussing, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244
Voice: 315-443-2642 Fax: 315-443-3717
On Fri, 1 May 1998, Doug Henwood wrote:
> Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
> >Hmm. So when was the public law 85-529 passed? And what was the rationale
> >behing selecting May 1st for the festivity?
>
> I think it was explained to me as an anti-Communist redefinition of Mayday.
> When was Labor Day created? Wasn't that also an anti-May Day thing?
>
> Doug
>
> Here's the law, from the searchable U.S. Code:
>
> -CITE-
> 36 USC Sec. 162 01/16/96
> -EXPCITE-
> TITLE 36 - PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES AND OBSERVANCES
> CHAPTER 9 - NATIONAL OBSERVANCES
> -HEAD-
> Sec. 162. Loyalty Day
> -STATUTE-
> The 1st day of May of each year is designated as Loyalty Day and
> is to be set aside as a special day for the reaffirmation of
> loyalty to the United States of America and for the recognition of
> the heritage of American freedom; and the President of the United
> States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation calling
> upon officials of the Government to display the flag of the United
> States on all Government buildings on such day and inviting the
> people of the United States to observe such day, in schools and
> other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies.
> -SOURCE-
> (Pub. L. 85-529, July 18, 1958, 72 Stat. 369.)
>
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