Story highlights State government offices are closed Monday in Mississippi and Alabama for Confederate Memorial Day

In Georgia the day was changed in 2015 to the generic name of "State Holiday"

(CNN) It's been nearly 153 years since the Confederate Army surrendered to Union forces, ending the American Civil War.

Some Southern states still commemorate those who died fighting for secession from the United States over slavery and states' rights.

State government offices were closed April 23 in Alabama for Confederate Memorial Day. In neighboring Mississippi they will be closed April 30, when that state observes the holiday.

April 26, but this year it was observed April 23. In Georgia the day has been called "State Holiday" since 2015, when Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee's birthday were struck from the state calendar. The state holiday list says the official holiday isApril 26, but this year it was observed April 23.

The change in Georgia came amid debate in the South over what to do with Confederate symbols after the killings of nine black parishioners in a Charleston, South Carolina, church, by a white supremacist in 2015.

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