Pan American Day
Pan American Day is celebrated on April 14 and emphasizes the cultural contributions and interconnectedness of Latin and North American nations. The origins of this observance trace back to the first Pan American Conference in 1889, which led to the establishment of the International Union of American Republics. This union, later known as the Pan American Union, evolved into what is today the Organization of American States (OAS), the oldest international organization dedicated to promoting peace and cooperation among member states from North, Central, and South America.
The formal celebration of Pan American Day began in 1931, following a resolution adopted by the governing board of the International Union of American Republics. Governments across the Americas were encouraged to observe this day, often involving the display of national flags. In the U.S., President Herbert Hoover issued a proclamation endorsing the observance, which included ceremonies attended by government officials and diplomats. Over time, the OAS has focused on various mutual concerns, including economic, cultural, and political issues, and has played a role in collective security within the region. Pan American Day continues to serve as a reminder of the solidarity and friendship among the nations of the Americas.
Pan American Day
April 14 is Pan American Day, a time for emphasis on the culture, contributions, and harmonious interrelation of Latin and North American nations. The first celebration itself took place in 1931, but its origins go back much further to what is frequently called the first Pan American Conference. This gathering, called and presided over by President Benjamin Harrison's secretary of state, James G. Blaine, opened in Washington, DC, on October 2, 1889, and remained in session until April 21, 1890. Officially, it was titled the First International Conference of American States.
On April 14, the date still celebrated, the conference adopted a resolution forming what has since grown in scope to become the Organization of American States (OAS), the world's oldest international organization and a powerful force for preserving hemispheric peace and cooperation. Initially, however, the organization was more immediately concerned with the collection and distribution of commercial information, and its name was the International Union of American Republics. Composed of nations in North, Central, and South America, the union operated from a permanent office in Washington, D.C. Subsequently designated the Pan American Union, the Washington office continued to serve as the OAS's permanent general secretariat.
It was on May 7, 1930, that the governing board of the International Union of American Republics adopted a resolution setting forth the desirability of observing a day to be known as Pan American Day in all the American republics. The proposal went on to suggest April 14, the date of the resolution that had created the Union of American Republics, as an appropriate date. According to the recommendation, each government represented in the union was to designate that day as Pan American Day and provide for the display within its borders of the flags of the various American nations.
The governments acted on the recommendation, each in its own way. In the United States, President Herbert Hoover issued a proclamation on March 7, 1931, ordering that the flag be displayed on all government buildings on April 14 and inviting schools, civic associations, and the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies, “thereby giving expression to the spirit of continental solidarity and to the sentiments of cordiality and friendly feeling which the government and people of the United States entertain toward the peoples and governments of the other republics of the American continent.” Pan American Day was thus observed for the first time in 1931. The ceremonies in Washington were held in the Pan American Building, attended by the president and the members of his cabinet and by the diplomatic representatives of the other American republics.
In 1948 the representatives of twenty-one American republics, meeting in Bogotá, Colombia, at the Ninth International Conference of American States, chartered the new Organization of American States. In so doing, they replaced the International Union of American Republics and gave the inter-American system its first comprehensive constitution. The purposes of the OAS were the consideration of mutual concerns in economic, technical, cultural, political, and legal matters; the preservation of hemispheric peace; and the maintenance of collective security. The Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, signed by member states at Rio de Janeiro in 1947, stated that an attack upon one American state should be considered as an attack upon all. It was in light of hemispheric provisions for mutual defense that the OAS voted approval of the action of President John F. Kennedy, who on October 22, 1962, announced an embargo on Soviet shipping of offensive weapons to Communist Cuba, where launching sites for Soviet missiles had been discovered.
"Pan American Day--April 14, 2025." National Today, 14 Apr. 2024, www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/13/2022-08079/pan-american-day-and-pan-american-week-2022. Accessed 1 May 2024.
"Pan American Day and Pan American Week, 2022." Federal Register, 8 Apr. 2022, www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/13/2022-08079/pan-american-day-and-pan-american-week-2022. Accessed 1 May 2024.