Head of School's Message: February 21

Washington was born on February 22, 1732; Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. 

The National Archives website reports that Washington's Birthday was celebrated on February 22 until 1968, when Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law to "provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays." By creating more 3-day weekends, Congress hoped to "bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation." One of the provisions of the act changed the observance of Washington's Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February guaranteeing that the holiday would never be celebrated on Washington's actual birthday. The third Monday in February cannot fall any later than February 21. Lincoln shares the day with Washington.

 

Lincoln Portrait is an orchestral work that includes readings from Lincoln’s documents. I have a 1988 CD of the London Philharmonic conducted by Copeland with Henry Fonda reading the excerpts. Among them is this stirring quote from Lincoln’s message to congress on December 1, 1862, as he mobilizes to abolish slavery:

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.” Hearing Henry Fonda read Lincoln’s words in a solemn, deep tone with the orchestra behind him quickens the heart and raises goosebumps. 

I am reading Jon Meacham’s biography of Lincoln, And There Was Light, Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle. Meacham describes Lincoln as a complex, brilliant man who answered the call of history by keeping America’s democratic project alive with his vision that the country should be free of slavery. In his concluding chapter, Meacham writes, “Abraham Lincoln did not bring about heaven on earth. Yet he defended the possibilities of democracy and the pursuit of justice at an hour in which the means of amendment, adjustment and reform were under assault.” 

In yesterday’s New York Times, an Op-Ed by Alexis Coe, a presidential historian, argued that we have become indifferent to Presidents' Day. He believes we need to embrace the day as an opportunity to remind ourselves about the founding ideals of democracy. He writes, “America is a precarious experiment that rests on the fulcrum of agreement. If elected officials and civil servants refuse to play by the same rules, voting access and democratic procedures will be eroded.”

As people of strong, unimpeachable character, powerful intellect and high ideals with an ability to reach across the aisle to serve the common good and to defend democracy, Washington and Lincoln established lofty standards for the presidents who succeeded them. There are lessons to learn from these great men, complex and flawed as they were, and in due course, we need to elect a woman to join their presidential ranks. 

I hope you had an enjoyable Presidents' Day and Winter Break. Welcome back to school!