State will observe Confederate Memorial Day next week
Published 3:45 pm Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Photo by Emmaline Wolfe Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans commemorated a new military headstone for Capt. James Alexander Hoskins Saturday. Hoskins was commander of the Brookhaven Light Artillery during the American Civil War in 2021. April 29 is the last Monday in April and thus Confederate Memorial Day.
BROOKHAVEN — Mississippi designates the last Monday of April as a state holiday for Confederate Memorial Day. The last Monday happens to be April 29 and a Lincoln County Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for the day.
The state holiday designation means state employees are entitled to a paid day off. Most state offices will be closed Monday however local governments are able to choose if they will be open for the day.
Lincoln County government offices will be open on Confederate Memorial Day. County officials said they traded in the holiday for a day off on Good Friday. The City of Brookhaven traded Confederate Memorial Day in for a holiday on Juneteenth.
At this time, the county does not have Juneteenth off because it is not a state holiday.
Gov. Tate Reeves quietly declared April as Confederate Heritage Month earlier this month through the Beauvoir Facebook page. He has previously used the Rankin County Sons of Confederate Veterans Facebook page to issue the state proclamation but not his official governor website nor the Secretary of State website. Beauvoir is the Jefferson Davis home in Biloxi which houses the former Confederate President’s library.