The struggles to make MLK Day a federal holiday

A few days after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 8, 1964, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. from Michigan, introduced legislation to establish a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.; however, it was never taken to a vote. Ralph Abernathy, the second president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a close friend of King, submitted multiple petitions to the Senate to establish a national holiday honoring King on his birthday. On Feb. 10, 1971, Senators George McGovern and Jacob Javits introduced a bill in the Senate to recognize King’s birthday as a national holiday and issued a joint statement in support of it. In addition, Congress received more than six million signatures in support of the federal holiday, but no legislative action was taken.

Another bill was introduced by Conyers in September 1972 with 23 co-sponsors. This was approved by the House Judiciary Committee but was not voted on by the full House. 

Conyers continued his fight to honor King, introducing yet another bill on Sept. 28, 1979. He later had the bill delayed as he felt the bill would not reach the two-thirds vote needed for passage; without the addition of amendments, he feared the bill would weaken. The bill fell short of the two-thirds vote needed to pass when it was voted on in November. From 1973-1979 several states enacted a statewide King Holiday, including Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey. 

On Jan. 15, 1981, a benefit concert, rally and march in Washington, D.C., was held to gain attention for the Bill. Popular R&B singer, Stevie Wonder, was the event sponsor, and his song “Happy Birthday” became an anthem for the movement. Thirty-two years after King was assassinated, the bill finally passed the House, and President Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law, making the third Monday of January a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. for his service to this country. Jan. 20, 1986, was the first national celebration of the King Holiday to take place. 

As the first celebration of MLK approached in 1986, Utah lawmakers were discussing a bill to also make it a state holiday. The Utah Daily Chronicle editorial team blasted Utah legislatures in the Jan. 20, 1986, edition of the paper, writing, “It is demeaning to even think about arguing for the validity of a holiday for King. He accomplished so much in such a short time for the betterment of this country and its people that there can be no argument.” 

A few weeks later, the Utah Senate failed to make it a state holiday while voting in front of King’s widow, Coretta. According to a Feb. 7, 1986, edition of the Deseret News, she had come to Utah to speak at the First Baptist Church in Salt Lake City and the Brigham Young University campus in Provo. Reportedly, it was misunderstood that part of the bill would have eliminated Columbus Day while combining Abraham Lincoln and George Washington’s birthdays into one Presidents Day. 

Lawmakers eventually settled on Human Rights Day to be celebrated the same day others honored King. Utah was not the only state in the United States that didn’t officially honor King after the federal holiday was created, namely Idaho and Arizona.

In January 2000, State Sen. Pete Suazo introduced a bill to change a holiday’s name to honor King. The bill passed and was signed by Gov. Mike Leavitt on Mar. 16, 2000. By 2021 all states in the union had officially made MLK Day a state holiday. 

While Morgan doesn’t do anything specifically to celebrate MLK Day, many businesses will be closed, including the city and county building, banks, the library and schools. Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated on Jan. 18 in 2023.