Happy Presidents Day to you, George
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George Washington was born on Feb. 22, 1732; Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809. Yet yesterday was the day called Presidents Day. It’s called that by news organizations; it’s noted that way in most calendars; signs in store windows advertise Presidents Day sales.
But if you’re in the readers’ representative office, the approach of the third Monday of February means mainly one thing: Another polite e-mail from Jason Bezis.
Bezis’ request to The Times, received last week, resembles in tone and spirit the e-mails he’s sent since 2000: ‘Numerous times in the past 20 years, the Times has incorrectly published that a federal and/or state ‘Presidents Day’ holiday exists, when, in fact, the February federal holiday is ‘Washington’s Birthday’ and California observes separate and distinct ‘Washington’s Birthday’ and ‘Lincoln’s Birthday’ holidays.’ (Those links to 2009 government holidays prove his point.)
Bezis, a lawyer, lives in California. That’s perhaps why, as he says, it ‘drives him nuts’ that in California papers in particular the day is called Presidents Day. He says, ‘Here, state government offices and courts were closed last Thursday for what they call ‘Lincoln Day.’ They are separate and distinct holidays in this state.’
The San Francisco Chronicle is among papers that have written thorough accounts of the crusade that one man has been on for years to get everyone to stop calling the third Monday in February ‘Presidents Day.’ But the facts in the story didn’t change how reporters and editors at that paper referred to the day. Neither have the e-mails sent by Bezis to The Times had an effect on what’s referred to in Times’ news stories as ‘Presidents Day.’
Clark Stevens, who oversees style and usage at The Times, gives Bezis credit for being technically, legalistically correct. But part of Stevens’ job is being mindful of what is in popular use -- what makes the most sense to readers. ‘It’s that time of year again,’ started a 2004 memo Stevens sent to copy editors. ‘This coming Monday, Feb. 16, is Presidents Day. Note that it is written without an apostrophe, as in the stylebook. Your holiday will be a lot happier if you don’t worry about whether it has a different official name, or what day George Washington was actually born on, or whether Abraham Lincoln has been forgotten. Monday is just Presidents Day.’ Stevens’ note in 2003: ‘We are going to stick with Presidents Day. If anybody is so moved, they can note that the official title is still Washington’s Birthday. But Presidents Day has the advantage of being widely used and understood.’
Bezis says he’s winding down his efforts to change minds. For years, he used to contact about two dozen news organizations in late January or early February. Now it’s just a handful; the main reason he sent a note this year was that it was Lincoln’s 200th birthday. He’s also watching Sacramento to see if budget cuts might have an effect on the holiday.
Below are articles in various publications over the years about Bezis’ interest in the issue. However, the recent process of talking about his campaign seemed to reenergize Bezis, who ended up sending an e-mail that included his final arguments, which are also below.
Wrote Bezis in an e-mail received early this morning:
Although I told you Monday that my ‘Washington’s Birthday’ campaign was ‘winding down,’ I’m inclined to revive it. The New York Times, among other major newspapers, uses ‘Washington’s Birthday’ in its holiday closings box. So should it be at the Los Angeles Times in its holiday closing notices. I strongly believe that The Times, especially as California’s leading newspaper, has a special obligation to inform readers about the actual holiday names (or a close approximation), at least in the holiday closing notices. The Times simply was in error when it began publishing in its 1989 holiday closing box: “Presidents’ Day, a holiday created to celebrate both Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays. It is a federal holiday …” The federal holiday is ‘Washington’s Birthday.’
Bezis prefers the way the New York Times does it: The published box of holiday closings says ‘Washington’s Birthday’ is being observed that day, but then explains that the birthday is ‘actually Feb. 22.’
My concern is that the Times’ insistence on ‘Presidents Day’ with no explanation whatsoever to its readers is causing public opinion to be re-molded.... I am not seeking a complete review of Times style. I want the holiday closing notices to use titles that more closely reflect that official holiday designations -- ‘George Washington Day’ -- not ‘Presidents Day.’
Asked Monday about his history with the historical date, Bezis said he’s contacted, ‘oh boy ... most of the major newspapers in the states that had a Washington’s Birthday state holiday. The Indianapolis Star; the Washington Post.’ Then he started listing off the top of his head what papers had changed policies: ‘The Baltimore Sun did it for a year in ’99 and they reverted back. The San Diego Union-Tribune has stuck in there for a while. The Richmond Times Dispatch did an editorial in ’99 or so; there was some internal arguing there between the editorial side and the news side. Orange County Register back in 2007, they did a little article about it. So did the Union-Leader in New Hampshire; the Arkansas Democrat Gazette did as well. The Chronicle never changed anything.... The St. Petersburg Times -- they decided on their own to do it. There was a front-page notice in 2002 (and a column in 2004). It was an interesting style issue that they explained.’
Columns by and about Jason Bezis and the day others call Presidents Day:
On Feb. 12, Bezis wrote an essay celebrating Lincoln’s birthday that includes California-specific facts that he’s long included in his notes to The Times (‘California is among the states that observe Lincoln’s Birthday as a holiday.... California first observed February 12th as an annual state holiday in 1909, as a tribute to Lincoln’s 100th birthday’).
Herb Caen’s 1996 column on the topic (Bezis writes, ‘Caen died in 1997 unaware of the fact that ‘Presidents Day’ did not actually exist as a federal or California state holiday.’)
Christian Science Monitor story in 1998
National Public Radio interview in 2001
San Diego Union-Tribune column in 2004
San Diego Union Tribune article in 2005