Posted by Helen on: 03.05.2007 /
My children are off school today because it’s Pulaski Day. As Wikipedia says:
Casimir Pulaski Day is a United States holiday celebrated on the first Monday of every March to commemorate Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born March 4, 1747. It is celebrated mainly in areas which have large Polish populations. This is a separate holiday from the federal holiday, General Pulaski Memorial Day, that commemorates Pulaski’s death at the Siege of Savannah on October 11, 1779.
Illinois enacted a law on June 20, 1977 to celebrate the birthday of Casimir Pulaski and held the first official Pulaski Day celebrations in 1978. The bill was introduced by Senator Leroy W. Lemke (D)- Chicago. Chicago celebrates Pulaski Day with an annual parade, and many Illinois school children are given the day off.
Since my American history is rather weak (I went to school in England – that’s my excuse) I looked up Casimir Pulaski to see what he did that made him a such a hero. This was in-depth research that even took me to articles outside Wikipedia ;-)
The introduction to this page about Casimir Pulaski sums it up pretty well:
Casimir Pulaski belongs to that select group of heroes, including the Marquis de Lafayefte, Thomas Paine, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Pulaski’s fellow countryman, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who opposed tyranny not only in their homelands, but wherever they found it. We especially honor Pulaski because he paid the ultimate price, having sustained a mortal wound while fighting for American independence at the battle of Savannah in 1779. Today he remains a symbol of the ideal of valiant resistance to oppression everywhere in the world.
This helped, becasue I was having a bit of trouble with him being a war hero – I’m never in favor of war if there’s any other solution. War is a terrible thing: it’s so costly in every way. But I have no trouble honoring someone for taking a brave stand against oppression. The world needs people who will do that.
Comment by: Rachel
1Thanks for the interesting information, Helen. I’d never even heard of Casimir Pulaski (that I can remember).
Comment by: Jennifer
2I always loved Casimir Pulaski day, but that was mostly because I grew up outside of Chicago, and we got a day off of school. However, it turns out that in my sister did not have the day off, so something must have happened since I last graced the halls she now walks.
Of course, the teachers always tried to teach us something about him the day afterwards, and to this day I still couldn’t tell you anything other than “Polish war hero with unspellable name.”
Comment by: Karen
3Never heard of him, thanks for the info.
More and more schools in California are starting to take off on Cesar Chavez day, commemorating the man who initiated awareness of the unfair treatment of (mostly Mexican) farm laborers.
Comment by: Marcia
4Thanks for the education. I hadn’t heard of him, either, until Sufjan Stevens. : )
Listen.
Comment by: Doreen
5Thanks for the story. This website has a gentle way of reminding me how little I know about so MANY things….
Comment by: Helen
6Thanks everyone. I feel reassured that some of you haven’t heard of him either!
Comment by: Laura M.
7I never heard of Casimir Pulaski day either. What a shame that we don’t celebrate it here, or Cesar Chavez day. I hear some places celebrate Rosa Parks day as well.
In Texas we have Juneteenth, which I have read is now celebrated many places around the world, but some Yankees have told me they never heard of it either. June 16 is the date Texas slaves finally recieved news of their freedom, years after the Emancipation Proclamation , which had estalished freedom for slaves, became law.
Cinco de Mayo is also very popular here and I wonder how many northerners celebrate it? Even many Texans are under the mistaken impression that the 5th of May is the national Independence Day for Mexico (it isn’t, May 5 was the date of a more minor battle resulting in Mexican independence from France, not Spain). Mexican Independence Day is in September.
September is now National Hispanic Heritage month, so in Texas we now start out and end each school year with paying homage to hispanic and particularly Mexican culture. I think that’s ‘kewl’, as Benajamin would say.
Comment by: Laura M.
8Oh yeah, Dia de los Muertos has recently become popular and is honored in many schools here now. Has anyone heard of this happening in schools up north?
Comment by: Doreen
9Back in the day, elementary days to be sure, I remember celebrating the following:
May Day (dance around the May pole)
Guy Fawkes Day
Lincoln’s BD
Washington’s BD
(that would be SEPARATELY, lol)
Harvest Day
Yankee Doodle Day
In fairness, I should divulge that my childhood included stints in So. California AND upstate NY!
Comment by: Helen
10Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of an American celebrating Guy Fawkes Day!
When my children were younger I worked with them to make a little story book on the computer about Guy Fawkes that they took to school on November 5. To my knowledge no-one in at school had ever heard of it until they said something about it.