Your mail wasn’t delivered today because it is Columbus Day, the federal holiday commemorating Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas in 1492.
In 1892, America’s only Hoosier President, Benjamin Harrison, encouraged nationwide celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage. But it wasn’t until 1934 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt began issuing annual proclamations recognizing Columbus Day. Congress got around to establishing it as a federal holiday in 1968, and it was finally signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was eventually moved to the second Monday to in October in order to standardize three-day weekends for major national holidays.
In recent years, the second Monday in October has also become widely observed as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, honoring the history, cultures, and contributions of America’s original inhabitants. But if you happen to live in the state of Alabama, you’ve got a THIRD reason to celebrate today.
It’s also Fraternal Day!
No, I haven’t made that up. Alabama is apparently one of the few places left in America where somebody in the state legislature still remembers that fraternal organizations even exist. In fact, the state’s official 2026 holiday calendar lists the second Monday in October as “Columbus Day & Fraternal Day & American Indian Heritage Day.” Three holidays for the price of one.
Fraternal Day isn’t some recent invention dreamed up by a bored Shriner looking for another excuse to wear a fez in public and drag his little car out of the garage for the inevitable parade. Alabama established Fraternal Day way back on August 28, 1915, originally designating the second Thursday in October to recognize the contributions of fraternal organizations. It actually predated the establishment of Columbus Day as a federal holiday.
Think about that for a moment. In 1915, the Golden Age of Fraternalism was in full swing and America was absolutely swimming in fraternal organizations. Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Elks, Moose, Eagles, Woodmen of the World, and almost a thousand other groups with their own elaborate rituals, mysterious passwords, impressive hats, and enough jeweled collars, swords, and embroidered aprons to keep the nation’s regalia manufacturers in business for generations.
Fraternal groups were so numerous and widespread that a National Fraternal Congress of America was established at Chicago in 1913 as an umbrella organization to protect the interests of fraternalism and act as lobbyists in Washington DC. It’s still around today.
And they weren’t just social clubs. These organizations provided charitable assistance, life insurance, burial benefits, care for widows and orphans, hospitals, retirement homes, and a sense of community and belonging long before government programs took on many of those responsibilities.
And Alabama’s legislators thought all of that was important enough to deserve a holiday.
There was even an effort in 1915 to establish a National Fraternal Day. Texas Senator Morris Sheppard introduced legislation proposing October 27th as a federal holiday. Unfortunately, that idea went nowhere. Apparently, Congress decided the American people already had enough holidays involving picnics, ceremonial speeches, parades, drill teams, and men wearing funny headgear.
Of course, Fraternal Day doesn’t mean Alabama’s Masons get an extra day off from work. State offices are closed, but since it shares its date with Columbus Day, nobody gets to stack the holidays and take Tuesday off as well.Still, it’s a charming little historical survivor from an era when fraternalism was woven deeply into American civic life, and the contributions of our lodges and other organizations were considered worthy of statewide recognition.
So, to all our Brethren in Alabama, Happy Fraternal Day! Wear your square and compasses proudly. Call an old Brother you haven’t seen in a while. Visit a lodge. Do something charitable for somebody who needs a hand. Maybe even invite a prospective member to dinner. And if you happen to find yourself in a restaurant tonight, raise a glass to the Masons, Knights, Prophets, Odd Fellows, Woodmen, Foresters, Red Men, Hibernians, Pythians, Eagles, Elks, Owls, Mooses, Macabees, Cincinnatis, Hoo-Hoos, and all the other fraternal organizations that have helped build American communities over the last three centuries.Just don’t expect the waiter to know what the hell you’re celebrating. (Practice your elevator speech – now’s your chance to explain it to him.)
Happy Fraternal Day, Brethren!
