Proclamation 2520—Armistice Day, 1941

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Whereas the armistice of November 11, 1918 marked the successful end of a war which undeniably saved democracies from imperialistic conquest; and

Whereas, in most parts of the world a generation of mankind lived in peace; and

Whereas forces of lawlessness and inhumanity have again been unleashed against us; and

Whereas Senate Concurrent Resolution 18, Sixty-ninth Congress, passed June 4, 1926 (44 Stat. 1982), requests the President of the United States to issue a proclamation calling for the observance of November 11 with appropriate ceremonies, and the act of May 13, 1938 (52 Stat. 351), provides that the 11th day of November of each year shall be a legal public holiday, to be known as Armistice Day:

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of the United States to pause upon November 11, 1941, to show gratitude for the past, to rededicate the Nation to the fundamentals of human liberty, and to defend our future. I accordingly invite the people to observe that day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies, and I direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all Government buildings on that day.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 27th day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and sixty-sixth.

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

By the President:
CORDELL HULL
Secretary of State.