End of 'Revolutionary' British Evacuation Day in Boston?

We are less than one month from July 4, a great day for many reasons, but particularly for Irish Americans. It’s a day for fireworks and hot dogs and relaxation, but also of historically-based Brit-bashing.

That stuff can be frowned upon these days. But July 4 celebrates America’s independence from Britain, a move that many Irish freedom fighters took as a model for two centuries.

Given the approach of this patriotic holiday, this might seem like a bad time to propose ending a beloved tradition, in a famously Irish city, with roots stretching back to the Revolutionary War.

But indeed, this past week, lawmakers in Boston proposed ending the celebration of Evacuation Day. Schools as well as many government offices in and around Boston are closed for Evacuation Day.

During this unusually intense debate, some elected officials began using fake Irish brogues. They believe some Evacuation Day defenders are merely trying to hold onto a holiday which has many added benefits for the Boston Irish community.

Never heard of Evacuation Day? Sounds like a silly holiday that can’t possibly have anything Irish about it?

That’s understandable. But the first thing you should know is that Evacuation Day is celebrated on March 17. That, of course, is St. Patrick’s Day. 

But it is also the day (according to some historians anyway) that the British, finally defeated in Boston, fled the city once and for all.

(New York City, incidentally, celebrates its own Evacuation Day on November 25.)

Evacuation Day, along with several other important Revolutionary War era dates, eventually became an official holiday in the Boston area. Even back in the 1930s when this happened, not all were thrilled.

Local legend has it that colorful, scandalous Boston Irish Mayor James Michael Curley put the word out that he wanted something “American” to celebrate on March 17. His aides came up with Evacuation Day.

Either way, as the holiday has evolved in Boston, Evacuation Day has become a day for many to celebrate their dual identities as Americans as well as Boston Irish. 

This would seem a very important thing since elites in Boston, perhaps more than any other large U.S. city, maintained anti-Irish sentiment for a stubbornly long period of time.

Perhaps, then, it is not surprising there has been a backlash. Many oppose the efforts to reopen schools and government offices on Evacuation Day/St. Patrick’s Day.

South Boston State Senator Jack Hart, a Democrat, said, “If we eliminate these holidays … then what’s next? Do we eliminate maybe Presidents’ Day? Do we eliminate July 4? Why don’t we get rid of Thanksgiving?”

This is where the fake brogues come in. Apparently, Hart’s opponents were not content merely to note that as much as $6 million could be saved by taking these holidays off of the state’s budget books. 

They argue that in a time of dire economic crises, there is no reason the government of Boston should be doling our paid holidays for city and state workers.

Fair enough. But state senators such as Michael Knapik felt the need to indulge in some stereotyping. He reportedly put on a fake Irish brogue, and in dismissing the arguments of Hart he said, "He weaves these great tales of the Irish and Boston and all the glories of days gone by.”

It’s worth noting, however, that Knapik is not alone. Both of Boston’s major newspapers, the Globe and the Herald, have come out in favor of doing away with Evacuation day as an official state holiday.

Governor Deval Patrick said that if lawmakers passed a bill doing away with the holiday, he would sign it.

Meanwhile, Hart -- who hosts a famous, well-attended South Boston breakfast every March 17 -- did not help his cause. Earlier in the debate, he mistakenly referred to the paid state holiday as St. Patrick’s Day rather than Evacuation Day.

In the end, Hart and his troops won the day. March 17 will remain a paid state holiday in and around Boston.

Whatever holiday you choose to celebrate that day is up to you.