On Nov. 2, 1983, President Reagan signed into law a bill designating the third Monday of January each year as a federal holiday to honor the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The ceremony in the White House Rose Garden was attended by Mrs. Coretta Scott King and family, members of Congress, Civil Rights Movement veterans, educators and business and religious leaders.

During the signing President Reagan said:

"All right-thinking people, all right-thinking Americans are joined in spirit with us this day as the highest recognition which this nation gives is bestowed upon Martin Luther King Jr., one who also was the recipient of the highest recognition which the world bestows, the Nobel Peace Prize.

"America is a more democratic nation, a more just nation, a more peaceful nation because Martin Luther King, Jr. became her preeminent nonviolent commander."

The legislation established a King Holiday Commission that arranged the first official celebration in 1986.

During that first celebration the President spoke at D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School and later hosted Mrs. King at the White House.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is one of four United States federal holidays to commemorate an individual person.

The History:

Martin Luther King Day was founded as a holiday promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations. After King's death in 1968, Rep. John Conyers introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday, highlighting King's activism on behalf of trade unionists. Unions did most of the promotion for the holiday throughout the 1970s.

In 1976, trade unionists helped to elect Jimmy Carter, who endorsed the King Day bill. After that endorsement, union influence in the King holiday campaign declined, and the King Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public.

The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single "Happy Birthday" to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 The Nation article as "...the largest petition in favor of an issue in United States History".

President Ronald Reagan opposed the holiday, relenting only after Congress passed the King Day Bill with an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate).

At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. It was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986.

Reluctance to observe Marting Luther King Jr. Day

In addition to Reagan, opposition to the bill was led by Senator Jesse Helms, who questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. He was also critical of King's opposition to the Vietnam War, accused King of having Communist connections.

On January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Day was officially observed in all 50 states. Prior to that New Hampshire and Arizona did not observe the day. Throughout the 1990's this was heavily criticized. After a 1992 proposition to recognize the holiday in Arizona, the NFL boycotted hosting Super Bowl XXVII at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The hip-hop group Public Enemy recorded a song titled "By The Time I Get To Arizona", on their 1991 album, Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black, in which they describe assassinating Arizona Governor Fife Symington III, for his opposition to the Holiday.

While all states now observe the Holiday, some did not name the day after King.

In Utah the holiday was known as "Human Rights Day", until the year 2000 when the Utah State Legislature voted to change the name of the holiday from Human Rights Day to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In that same year Governor Michael O. Leavitt signed the bill officially naming the holiday "Martin Luther King, Jr. Day."

In Virginia, the Holiday was added on to Lee-Jackson Day, a day meant to honor Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and became Lee-Jackson-King Day. The incongruous nature of the holiday, which simultaneously celebrated the lives of Confederate Army generals and a civil rights icon, did not escape the notice of Virginia lawmakers. In 2000, a Martin Luther King Day was established in Virginia.

In Arizona and New Hampshire, Martin Luther King Day is known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Day.

Although the day is a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, it is usually not observed by small private companies except for banks. Some large corporations close their operations (more so than on Veterans Day or Columbus Day, which are also federal holidays, but less so than on holidays such as Memorial Day or Labor Day when virtually all corporations are closed), but small shops, restaurants, and grocery stores tend to remain open. Overall, in 2007, 33% of employers gave employees the day off, while 33% of large employers over 1,000 and 32% of smaller employers gave time off. The observance is most popular amongst nonprofit organizations and least popular among factories and manufacturers.

The reasons for this have varied, ranging from the recent addition of the holiday (each year more businesses are closed than the year before, though often those that do choose to close "make it up" by no longer closing for Presidents Day) to its occurrence just two weeks after the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, when many businesses are closed for part of or sometimes all of the week. Additionally, many schools and places of higher education are closed for classes; others remain open but may hold seminars or celebrations of Dr. King's message.