Easter Monday Holiday

The Monday after Easter, rather than Good Friday as in every other state, was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years. The bill establishing the holiday was introduced by Senator Paul Davis Grady of Johnston County and was ratified on 19 Apr. 1935. Although no written documents support the claim, oral tradition has long maintained that the reason North Carolina celebrated Easter Monday was to afford fans a greater opportunity to attend the North Carolina State-Wake Forest baseball game, which for many years was played the Monday after Easter. The law was amended in 1987 to observe the holiday on Good Friday rather than Easter Monday.