Constitution Day and Citizenship Day are celebrated in the United States each year on September 17. The day honors the Constitution of the United States. It also honors naturalized foreign-born citizens and native-born citizens who have reached voting age. Citizenship Day celebrations include speeches and educational activities to emphasize the privileges and responsibilities of United States citizenship.
A movement to recognize new citizens began in 1939. The American publisher William Randolph Hearst gave it national prominence through his chain of daily newspapers. In 1940, Congress passed a resolution designating the third Sunday in May as I Am an American Day. On Feb. 29, 1952, President Harry S. Truman signed a bill establishing September 17 as Citizenship Day. Under the 1952 law, Citizenship Day replaced I Am an American Day. In 2004, the holiday was changed to Constitution Day and Citizenship Day to also commemorate the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.
