Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2018: Are Banks Closed?

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and if you're looking to go to a bank, you may not be in luck.

Most banks will be closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2018. Federal Reserve banks, TD Bank, Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo will all be closed. 

The US Postal Service will not deliver or send mail today, but FedEx and UPS are open for normal hours. Most schools are closed on MLK Day.

MLK Jr day is a federal holiday, meaning federal government offices are closed, and every federal employee is paid for the holiday. Luckily, if you're looking to shop, many retail stores will be open.

MLK Day takes place annually on the third Monday of every January. The holiday honors the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in 1968. In the words of Coretta Scott King, "The King Holiday honors the life and contributions of America’s greatest champion of racial justice and equality, the leader who not only dreamed of a color-blind society, but who also lead a movement that achieved historic reforms to help make it a reality."

The First MLK Day Was Celebrated in 1986

According to History.com, the struggle for Martin Luther King Jr. day was a long and arduous one. Many people began to campaign for a holiday in the civil rights leader's name just days after he was assassinated. It wasn't until the 1980s that six million signatures for a federal holiday changed the mind of the CBC.

The first MLK day was celebrated in 1986, but it took a number of years for recognition of the holiday to truly catch on to every state.

Martin Luther King Jr. is considered one of, if not the, most important voice of the American civil rights movement. He advocated a nonviolent method to achieving justice, and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. One year later, he helped coordinate the Selma to Montgomery march.