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Columbus Day – Indigenous Peoples Day 2024: What is open, what is closed? Will the mail be sent today?

Columbus Day – Indigenous Peoples Day 2024: What is open, what is closed? Will the mail be sent today?

Today (Monday, October 14, 2024) is Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day. In Alabama, the day is officially known as American Indian Heritage Day and Fraternal Day.

Columbus Day commemorates the landing of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus on the American continent in 1492. It is celebrated every year on the second Monday of October, which this year falls on October 14th.

The controversy surrounding Columbus Day has grown in recent years as Native Americans and other groups have protested the idea of ​​celebrating an event that marks the beginning of the colonization of the Americas and the displacement of indigenous peoples.

Columbus Day

The first Columbus Day celebrations in the United States took place in 1792, when a group of leaders in New York held an event to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the explorer’s historic landing. Similar events continued throughout the year until, in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation calling on Americans to celebrate Columbus on a holiday in which they would “cease from labor and devote themselves to such exercises as are to the explorer his.” best express honor and appreciation for his great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life.”

President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Columbus Day a national holiday in 1937. The day was originally celebrated every October 12th, but was changed to the second Monday in October beginning in 1971 with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

Alabama is the only state to declare the day Fraternal Day. It is a time to honor all social and service organizations such as Freemasons, Elks and Rotarians.

Here’s a look at what’s open and closed on Monday, October 14th:

  • Federal offices are closed. Columbus Day is the eighth of eleven federal holidays in 2023. The remainder are Veterans Day on November 11th, Thanksgiving on November 28th and Christmas Day on December 25th.
  • Many banks and credit unions are closed. Check with your local branch. The Federal Reserve Banks are closing.
  • The US Post Office is not delivering mail and post offices are closed.
  • UPS and FedEx are open.
  • Alabama state offices and courts are closed; Columbus Day is one of 13 national holidays.
  • Many district and city offices remain open. Birmingham City, Huntsville City and Mobile City are open.
  • Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space Flight Center are closed. Gates will be accessible based on holiday/weekend schedule.
  • ABC Stores are open.
  • The stock markets (New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq) are open.
  • Restaurants, shopping centers and cinemas are open.
  • National parks are open.
  • Most libraries are closing.
  • Most department stores and restaurants will be open.
  • Grocery stores remain open. Walmart and Target are open during regular hours.
  • Garbage and recycling pickup may occur on a different schedule. Check with your local provider for service changes.