How did the United States come to celebrate April 6th as National Tartan Day?
Who were the ones who drove this forward, so Scottish Americans could celebrate their heritage each year?
In 1995, the Caledonian Foundation, a local Floridian group of Scottish-Americans, invited national Scottish-American organizations to meet and explore how they all could advance Scottish- American awareness nationwide. It was noted that Canada, with its robust Scottish population of both immigrants and now-natives, already was celebrating a "Tartan Day." So why not have similar in the U.S.?
The following year, six national organizations - the American-Scottish Foundation, the Association of Scottish Games & Festivals, the Caledonian Foundation, the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, Scottish Heritage USA, and the Tartan Educational and Cultural Association - got things going.
Thousands of Scots-Americans found ways to observe "Tartan Day" in churches, on village greens, at Scottish festivals, at social gatherings, and in the home Enthusiastic responses to ads taken out in three national heritage publications -The Highlander, Scottish Life, and Family Tree- endorsed the effort. Scots in America had a common cause. Now it was time to make things official.
On March 20, 1998, Senate Resolution 155 passed. Here is a portion:
...."Whereas April 6 has a special significance for all Americans, and especially those Americans of Scottish descent, because the Declaration of Arbroath, the Scottish Declaration of Independence, was signed on April 6, 1320 and the American Declaration of Independence was modelled on that inspirational document
... Whereas this resolution honors the major role that Scottish Americans played in the founding of this Nation, such as the fact that almost half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish descent, the Governors in 9 of the original 13 States were of Scottish ancestry, Scottish Americans successfully helped shape this country in its formative years and guide this Nation through its most troubled times
... Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate designates April 6 of each year as "National Tartan Day".
|
Cliff Robertson, Grand Marshal,
New York Tartan Day Parade, 1999.
|
A year after the U.S. Senate endorsed Tartan Day, America had its first Tartan Day Parade held in New York.
It was somewhat modest. Two pipe bands and a small but enthusiastic group of Scottish-Americans marched from the British Consulate in Midtown Manhattan to the headquarters of the United Nations. It was a start.
With the Senate resolution in place, the Scottish-American community now approached the U.S. House of Representatives. Success again.
On March 9, 2005, the House echoed its brethren in the Senate, noting all the achievements by Americans of Scottish descent but also noting that one out of every 10 Nobel prizewinners could claim Scottish roots.
All that was left, was the White House.
President George W. Bush did the right thing, as he noted that "Scotland and the United States have long shared ties of family and friendship." On April 4, 2008, he formally denoted a national Tartan Day, each April 6 from here to eternity.
Events now take place throughout the United States from New York to San Francisco to Pittsburgh, events large and small.
And today the small parade up a sidewalk in Manhattan is the largest such celebration of Scottish heritage in the United States.
The New York Tartan Day Parade now takes place through the center of Manhattan marching up Sixth Avenue, tens of thousands come to watch and cheer on thousands of marchers, clans, pipers and Scottish Americans as they celebrate their heritage and Tartan Day www.nyctartanweek.org
And each year The Scottish Coalition, USA recognizes an individual whose work and dedication has helped in the growing of the national message of Scotland in America.
THE SCOTTISH COALITION, USA comprises five national Scottish American organizations:
- The American-Scottish Foundation� - Scottish Heritage, USA - The Living Legacy of Scotland, Inc. - The Association of Scottish Games and Festivals - Scottish American Military Society
The Scottish Coalition USA: Alan L. Bain, Chairman, American-Scottish Foundation� is the President of The Scottish Coalition USA.
He spearheaded the New York Tartan Day Parade, initiated in 1998, and the Senate Resolution recognizing Tartan Day in 1999.
In 2002 The American-Scottish Foundation� partnered in the formation of the
National New York Tartan Day Parade Committee to oversee the Parade's growth and associated events in New York.
The National Capital Tartan Day Committee, Inc. ("NCTDC") is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization, incorporated in 2002 in the District of Columbia. NCTDC enjoys tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. It's sole mission is to promote an understanding of, and celebration of, the National Tartan Day holiday (observed on April 6th of each year, by Standing Resolutions of both houses of the U.S. Congress) in and around our Nation's Capital.
Membership in NCTDC is open to all persons living within a 100-mile radius of Washington, DC who subscribe to the goals and purposes of the organization. NCTDC is governed by an elected board of directors, drawn from the local DC Metro Area Scottish-American community.
Officers are Kathy Garrity (President); John King Bellassai (Vice President), James Morrison (Secretary), and Clark Scott (Treasurer). The officers and members of NCTDC volunteer their services each year to plan and staff a variety of Tartan Day events in and around Washington, DC and neighboring Alexandria, VA (both of which were settled by Scots in the mid-18th century). No one at NCTDC is ever compensated for his or her time devoted to promoting the Tartan Day holiday or convening events to celebrate www.dctartanday.org
|