Sunday, April 4th, 2021
February is Black history month, March is Women’s History month, and April 1st marks the beginning of the lesser known Fair Housing Month. I know about Fair Housing month because housing is a topic near and dear to Pattern, as evidenced by last week’s blog as well as the numerous housing events and housing reports published by Pattern. But Fair Housing Month got me thinking – what other national observances am I missing out on? How many are there? How are they established?
Federal holidays and official national observances can only be created by the passage of a law. However, national observances, whether it be a day, week or, month, can be created by the passage of a resolution in the House or the Senate. As it turns out, there are hundreds of these types of resolutions introduced every year. In 2004 the Senate passed a resolution designating the month of April as Financial Literacy Month to raise public awareness about the importance of financial literacy. More recently, the Senate designated April as Second Chance Month to raise awareness about the challenges of reentering society after serving prison time, and overcoming the stigma associated with having a criminal record.
Of course, congressionally-recognized observances aren’t the last word on monthly celebrations. In fact, National Fair Housing month, while fully supported and promoted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), has no formal congressional resolution establishing it. Other widely recognized April observances fall into this category too, such as Autism Awareness Month and Poetry Month.
When it comes down to it, anyone can declare any month to be national “insert topic here.” Whether or not it gets any traction or attention is another matter entirely. As a result, there is no official list of national observances, though some entities have cropped up to try to create one.
One such entity is Nationaldaycalendar.com, which apparently has an application process and selection committee for registering a national day, week, or month. Citing a backlog of applications, they are only accepting applications from businesses or organizations at this time. As you might expect, this has led to some interesting national observances. A personal favorite for the month of April is National Fresh Celery month. Never have I seen celery described with such passion. Also, their research “did not identify the source of National Fresh Celery Month” …so mysterious! Another personal favorite for April is National Straw Hat Month. National Straw Hat month is brought to you by the Headwear Information Bureau who would like to remind everyone to “put away their cloth and felt hats in exchange for the airier straw hats for spring and summer.”
Whatever you are celebrating this month, don’t forget to bring your straw hat and a fresh celery dish.
