How many holidays do Americans celebrate? 256! That’s probably a low count based only on those listed by timeanddate.com. American holidays range from the mega-famous to the obscure, from Christmas and Thanksgiving to August 21st Senior Citizens Day, from July 4th to Colorado’s Francis Xavier Cabrini Day.
This episode of The American Tapestry Project explores a new thread in the stories of how Americans weave the common objects of their love into the national fabric by examining American holidays. First airing on March 14th with St. Patrick’s Day following in three days, we’ll launch our journey through America’s holidays by perusing America’s many ethnic holidays as a nation of immigrants celebrates their origins. We’ll study in some detail St. Patrick’s Day, Juneteenth and Columbus Day and a number of other vital but less famous ethnic celebrations, such as National Tartan Day, Leif Erikson Day and St. David’s Day. While were at it, we’ll begin the episode by also answering listener questions about books of interest behind the series.