Evacuation Day is a

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

observed on March 17 in

Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chel ...

(which includes the cities of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, and Revere, and the town of Winthrop) List of Massachusetts holidays and also by the public schools in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. Somerville School Calendar The holiday commemorates the evacuation of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces from the city of

following the

siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

, early in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Schools and government offices (including some

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

state government offices located in Suffolk County) are closed. If March 17 falls on a weekend, schools and government offices are closed on the following Monday in observance. It is the same day as

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

, a coincidence that played a role in the establishment of the holiday.

Historical background

The 11-month

ended when the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

, under the command of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

fortified A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Dorchester Heights Dorchester Heights is the central area of South Boston. It is the highest area in the neighborhood and commands a view of both Boston Harbor and downtown. History Dorchester is remembered in American history for an action in the American Rev ...

in early March 1776 with

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s captured at Ticonderoga. British General William Howe, whose garrison and navy were threatened by these positions, was forced to decide between attack and retreat. To prevent what could have been a repeat of the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

, Howe decided to retreat, withdrawing from Boston to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

on March 17, 1776. The British evacuation was Washington's first victory of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. It was also a huge morale boost for the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

, as the city where the rebellion began was the first to be liberated.

Establishment of the holiday

While

parades have been held in Boston since 1876, Evacuation Day was not declared a holiday in the city until 1901,

Vrabel Vrabel, Vrábel, Vrábeľ, or Vrabelj is a surname. It means "sparrow" in some dialects of Czech, Slovak, Slovene, and related languages. It is cognate with the Polish surname Wróbel. Notable people with the surname include: * Jaroslav Vrábe ...

, p. 241 amid interest in local history that also resulted in the construction of the

Dorchester Heights Monument The Dorchester Heights Monument is a large public monument in the Dorchester Heights area of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The monument, consisting of a marble tower, honors the evacuation of Boston during the American Revolutiona ...

. The state made it a holiday in Suffolk County in 1938. The large

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

population of Boston at that time played a role in the establishment of the holiday. O'Connor, p. 124 A 1941 law establishing the holiday in Suffolk County was signed in both black and green ink.

Observance activities

Evacuation Day activities in the areas that observe the holiday are limited. Most events of note, like the annual

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

and politicians' breakfast in

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

, are dominated by celebrations of Irish culture. The parade is officially designated the

and Evacuation Day Parade. The Allied War Veterans of South Boston mark the day with a ceremony on Dorchester Heights. Since 1992, the participation of gay and lesbian people in the parade has been disputed, and was the subject of the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court case ''

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston ''Hurley v. Irish American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston'', 515 U.S. 557 (1995), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court regarding free speech rights, specifically the rights of groups to determine what message their activiti ...

''. Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...

boycotted the parade every year he was in office, in protest of the exclusion of LGBTQ+ marchers.

Moves to eliminate holiday

In 2010, the state legislature debated eliminating Evacuation Day and

Bunker Hill Day The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...

as official holidays, citing the expense of giving state and local workers paid days off. The state's FY2011 budget requires all state and municipal offices in Suffolk County be open on both days.

Notes

References