APRIL IN GEORGIA OFFICIALLY DESIGNATED AS “CONFEDERATE HISTORY & HERITAGE MONTH”(March 29, 2013—Atlanta, Ga)
In 2009, the Georgia General Assembly passed legislation which officially designated April each year as “Confederate History & Heritage Month.” As part of the ongoing commemoration of the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the War for Southern Independence, the Georgia Division of the Son’s of Confederate Veterans is set to launch the most active month of programs and memorial services around the state in the last one hundred years.
Georgia’s law states:
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“The month of April of each year is hereby designated as Confederate History and Heritage Month and shall be set aside to honor, observe, and celebrate the Confederate States of America, its history, those who served in its armed forces and government, and all those millions of its citizens of various races and ethnic groups and religions who contributed in sundry and myriad ways to the cause which they held so dear from its founding on February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama, until the Confederate ship CSS Shenandoah sailed into Liverpool Harbor and surrendered to British authorities on November 6, 1865.
“Officials and departments of state, county, and municipal governments, boards of education, elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, businesses, and all citizens are encouraged to participate in programs, displays, and activities that commemorate and honor our shared history and cultural inheritance throughout each April during Confederate History and Heritage Month.”
During the month of April this year, the Sons of Confederate Veterans will be conducting reenactments, memorial services, and a host of living history presentations in schools, parks, and cemeteries all over the state of Georgia. Division Commander Jack Bridwell said, “Confederate Heritage Month is a tremendous opportunity for teachers, students, and families to get out and learn more about our state history. So much is portrayed by Hollywood today that Georgia and the South were evil; when, in reality, the South was the most peaceful, rural, and Christian part of America before war and Reconstruction destroyed the pastoral way of life here. April gives us a chance to celebrate the positive things about our Southern heritage and culture, as well as a chance to learn from the political dangers that once led to a deep division in America over the role of the federal government in people’s individual lives.”
For more information about Confederate Heritage events in your area, please contact Jack Bridwell, Division Commander for the Georgia Sons of Confederate Veterans at 1-866-SCV-in-GA or view information online at GeorgiaSCV.org.
