COLUMBIA, SC (AP) – South Carolina state government offices are closed as the state marks Confederate Memorial Day.
A number of local governments are also closed Thursday to mark the holiday held each May 10.
South Carolina is one of six states in the South to observe a Confederate Memorial Day, although the dates vary.
South Carolina chose May 10 because it is the day when Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson died in 1863 after he was wounded by his own troops and the day Union soldiers captured fleeing Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Georgia in 1865.
The Legislature will still meet Thursday in its final day of regular session.
Lawmakers have engaged in little debate about changing the holiday, even after removing the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds in 2015.
