Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday observed annually in the United States on the last Monday of May.^[1] Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.^[2] Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. As a marker it typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.^[3]

By the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as people visited the graves of their deceased relatives in church cemeteries, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend

Early History

Flags flying at gravesites at Fort Logan National Cemetery during Memorial Day, 2006, Denver, Colorado

Troops at the Washington, D.C. Memorial Day parade, 1942

A boy holding an American flag during the 2009 National Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of theUnited States Capitol

The practice of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers is an ancient custom. Soldiers' graves were decorated in the U.S. before and during the U.S. Civil War.^[6]There is documentation that women in Savannah, Georgia decorated soldiers' graves in 1862.^[7] In 1863, the cemetery dedication at Gettysburg, PA was a ceremony of commemoration at the graves of dead soldiers. Local historians in Boalsburg, PA, claim that ladies there decorated soldiers' graves on July 4, 1864.^[8]As a result, Boalsburg promotes itself as the birthplace of Memorial Day.^[9]

Following President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, there were a variety of events of commemoration. The first known observance of a Memorial Day-type observance was in Charleston, South Carolina on May 1, 1865. During the war, Union soldiers who were prisoners of war had been held at the Charleston Race Course; at least 257 Union prisoners died there and were hastily buried in unmarked graves.^[10] Together with teachers and missionaries, Blacks in Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers. The freedmen had cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, building an enclosure and an arch labeled, "Martyrs of the Race Course." Nearly ten thousand people, mostly freedmen, gathered on May 1 to commemorate the dead. Involved were 3,000 schoolchildren newly enrolled in freedmen's schools, mutual aid societies, Union troops, and black ministers and white northern missionaries. Most brought flowers to lay on the burial field. Today the site is used as Hampton Park.^[11]. Years later, the celebration would come to be called the "First Decoration Day" in the North.