Anderson Joins 8 Counties Marking Confederate Memorial Day

Day is also Official State holiday in South Carolina Since 2000

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer

Anderson County is one of eight remaining counties in South Carolina which will observe Confederate Memorial Day Friday. Anderson County offices, along with most S.C. agencies will be closed for the day. S.C. made the day a state holiday in 2000.

The holiday was started to honor the lives of those killed in the Civil War and to commemorate the death of Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson in 1863 and the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1865. South Carolina is one of only three states that officially recognizes Confederate Memorial Day, along with Alabama and Mississippi.

A survey of all 46 counties found that the other participating counties are: Allendale, Cherokee, Colleton, Dillon, Lexington, McCormick and Oconee. Of them, seven are predominantly white. Allendale County is the only one with a largely African American population.

In 2022, the S.C. Senate passed a bill that would make Juneteenth a floating holiday, but it died in the S.C. House. In March 2022, the Senate also passed a bill that would allow public employees to choose Juneteenth as a paid holiday, but the House sent it to a committee where it died without a hearing.