Irish colonists brought Saint Patrick's Day to what is now the United States of America. The first civic and public celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in the 13 colonies took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. During this first celebration The Charitable Irish Society of Boston organized what was the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies on 17 March 1737.[12] The first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1756, and New York's first Saint Patrick's Day Parade was held on 17 March 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army. In 1780, General George Washington, who commanded soldiers of Irish descent in the Continental Army, allowed his troops a holiday on 17 March. This event became known as The St. Patrick's Day Encampment of 1780.[12] Today, Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike.
Americans celebrate the holiday by wearing green. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-coloured clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched.
Many parades are held to celebrate the holiday. Details vary. Savannah, Georgia is a prime location for revelers. In New Orleans, Louisiana, the parades include the influence of New Orleans Mardi Gras, with float riders throwing spectators strings of beads, cabbages, and potatoes. Perhaps the smallest notable parade World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade, is said to take place in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the United States annually held on historic Bridge Street which became famous in the 1940s when Ripley’s Believe It or Not designated it “The Shortest Street in the World.” Boulder, Colorado claims to have the shortest parade, which is also less than a single city block.[citation needed] The city of Maryville, MO may have the shortest parade. Starting off as a joke for the downtown watering hole, The Palms, it is an ever diminishing tradition of having the world's shortest Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Originally going a block on Buchanan from Fourth Street to Fifth Street, the parade has gotten shorter and shorter each year to maintain the record. It was 86 feet in 2006. Syracuse, New York has a parade that culminates with the delivery of green beer to Coleman's Irish Pub in the Tipperary Hill section of the city. Tipperary Hill is home to the "Green-on-Top" Traffic Light.
The New York parade has become the largest Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world. In 2006 more than 150,000 marchers participated in it, including bands, firefighters, military and police groups, county associations, emigrant societies, and social and cultural clubs and was watched by close to 2 million spectators lining the streets. The parade marches up 5th Avenue in Manhattan and is always led by the U.S. 69th Infantry Regiment. It is the only New York City parade in which the marchers head uptown instead of downtown. New York politicians - or those running for office - are always found prominently marching in the parade. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch once proclaimed himself "Ed O'Koch" for the day, and he continues to don an Irish sweater and march every year, even though he is no longer in office. In a similar fashion, new New York state governor Eliot Spitzer marched in and even visited the morning Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral for the 2007 parade.
The New York parade has been dogged with controversy in recent years as its organizers have banned Irish gays and lesbians from marching as a group. The parade is organized by an Irish-Catholic group, and the Catholic Church is opposed to homosexual practices. However, in the modern country, gay and lesbian citizens of Ireland are guaranteed equal rights. American Gay rights groups have fought in court to obtain the right to march alongside other organizations. The gay groups and their sympathizers protested loudly in numerous ways. Many years protesters would lie down in the middle of the street at the start of the parade route and were arrested when they refused to move. In the late 1980s such arrests averaged several hundred per year, but had dwindled to a dozen or less annually by the early 2000s.[citation needed] A tradition has begun in Sunnyside, Queens of organizing a parade the week before the official Saint Patrick's Day parade. The Sunnyside parade is open to all organizations wishing to march.
The parade is organized and run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.[citation needed] For many years, the St. Patrick's Day Parade was the primary public function of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. On occasion the order has appointed controversial Irish republican figures (some of whom were barred from the U.S.) to be its Grand Marshal.[citation needed]
While it is a popular misconception that the St. Patrick's Day Parade bans 'lesbians and gays', the fact is that essentially all politically motivated groups, including pro-life groups, are banned from the Parade in an effort to keep politics out of a festive community celebration. Gays and lesbians are welcome to be in the Parade as members of any of the groups allowed.
The New York parade is moved to the previous Saturday (16 March) in years where 17 March is a Sunday. The event is also moved on the rare occasions when, due to Easter falling on a very early date, 17 March would land in Holy Week. This same scenario is scheduled to arise again in 2008, when Easter will also fall on 23 March. In many other American cities (such as San Francisco), the parade is always held on the Sunday before 17 March, regardless of the liturgical calendar.
Besides larger cities like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, the Scranton, Pennsylvania St. Patrick's Day Parade, the nation's 4th largest, has long been considered one of the best parades, if not the best, for partygoers.
Some cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago even dyes its river green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. Indianapolis dyes its Central Canal green. University of Missouri Rolla - St Pat's Board Alumni paint 12 city blocks kelly green with mops before the annual parade.
The longest-running Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in the U.S. are:
* Boston, Massachusetts, since 1737
* New York City, since 1756
* Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1771
* Morristown, New Jersey, since 1780
* Buffalo, New York, since 1811
* Savannah, Georgia, since 1813
* Carbondale, Pennsylvania, since 1833
* Chicago, Illinois, since 1843
* New Haven, Connecticut, since 1845
* San Francisco, California, since 1852
* Scranton, Pennsylvania, since 1862
* Cleveland, Ohio, since 1867
* Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1869[17]
* Kansas City, Missouri, since 1873
* Butte, Montana, since 1882
* Rolla, Missouri, since 1908
Although the baseball season is still in the spring training phase when St. Patrick's Day rolls around, some teams celebrate by wearing St. Patrick's Day themed uniforms. The Boston Red Sox were the first team to start wearing St. Patrick's Day hats in 1990[18]. In 2004 the Red Sox were the first team to wear jerseys specially designed for St. Patrick's day[19]. Since then it has become a tradition of many sports teams to also wear special uniforms to celebrate the holiday. The Philadelphia Phillies also wear St. Patrick's Day caps and jerseys. Other teams celebrate by wearing kelly green hats these teams include: the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the New York Mets, the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Braves, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Nearly all major league baseball teams now produce St. Patrick's day merchandise, including Kelly green hats, jerseys, and t-shirts.
In the United States, some people disconnect the celebration from the Irish altogether and simply view the holiday as a celebration of the color green. These people, besides wearing green on that day, may also stage dinner parties featuring all green foods. An example of such a menu would be chicken with rice and lima beans with sliced green maraschino cherries in coconut sauce colored with green food coloring, a green salad including greens, avocados and sliced green apples, split pea soup, green tinted bread spiced with sage, Lime Jell-O, iced limeade and/or a green-beer, and lime pudding, keylime pie, or lime sherbet for dessert.