Students from kindergarten through twelfth grade around the Portland metro area will enjoy three days off this weekend, as our nation celebrates Presidents’ Day.
The students and staff of Mt. Hood Community College won’t.

The reason for our non-recognition of this holiday lies in the faculty and classified employee contracts. According to Al Sigala, director of media and public relations for the college, the contracts provide for six official holidays. Presidents Day was left off that list in favor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day when the contract was negotiated in 1991.
Sigala said, “The staff here has always been good about wanting to recognize MLK, and the achievements of African-Americans in general.”

George Washington’s birthday has been celebrated since the late 1700s. The day, Feb. 22, was a celebration of George Washington’s birthday and, despite being second in popularity to only the Fourth of July in the early nineteenth century, wasn’t recognized by Congress as a national holiday until 1870. It finally became “official” in 1885, when President Chester Arthur signed a bill making it a federal holiday.

Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, was celebrated as its own holiday until federal legislation passed in 1968 designating just one official holiday in February, celebrated the third Monday. This holiday is actually still officially known as “Washington’s Birthday,” though it has become popularly known as “Presidents’ Day,” a day for honoring Washington, Lincoln and all the men who have served as president.