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Memorial Day
I INTRODUCTION
Memorial Day, legal holiday observed annually on the last Monday in May in the United States, in honor of the nation''s armed services personnel killed in wartime. The holiday was originally called Decoration Day because it is a time for decorating graves with flowers and flags. Over time, the designation Memorial Day became far more common. Observance of Memorial Day began shortly after the American Civil War (1861-1865).
II ORIGINS OF MEMORIAL DAY
Women''s groups in the South, where most of the Civil War battles took place, had begun placing flowers on the graves of soldiers by the end of the Civil War. The first official observance of Memorial Day occurred in 1868, on the order of General John Alexander Logan, the leader of a veterans'' group called the Grand Army of the Republic. Logan designated May 30 as a day for “strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” By “the late rebellion,” he meant the Civil War, which had taken 600,000 lives. On May 30, 1868, war orphans and veterans placed flowers on the graves of the Civil War dead in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
A number of towns in the United States claim to have originated the custom of decorating graves. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a proclamation that declared Waterloo, New York, the birthplace of Memorial Day. Townspeople there had begun decorating graves of soldiers, flying flags at half-mast, and organizing parades of veterans 100 years earlier, in May 1866. Waterloo has continued this tradition every year.
III MEMORIAL DAY BECOMES A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
In 1873 New York became the first state to declare a holiday on May 30. By the end of the 1800s, states throughout the nation had declared Memorial Day a holiday.
After World War I (1914-1918), Memorial Day observances were changed to honor the dead in all American wars, starting with the American Revolution. The U.S. Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday in 1971, and changed the date of observance from May 30 to the last Monday in May to give workers a three-day weekend.
IV MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCES TODAY
Memorial Day is marked by parades, speeches, and the decoration of graves. Traditionally, the president or vice president places a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, and small flags are placed on all the graves. Ceremonies also are held at Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Many people choose to visit family graves on Memorial Day.
Many Southern states continue to honor the Confederate dead on a separate day. Confederate Memorial Day is observed on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama, the last Monday in April in Mississippi, April 26 in Georgia, May 10 in North Carolina and South Carolina, the last Monday in May in Virginia, and June 3 in Louisiana. Texas observes Confederate Heroes Day on January 19, the birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Tennessee observes Confederate Decoration Day on June 3, the birthday of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy (see Confederate States of America).
The Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer activities, such as picnics and trips to the beach. A well-known automobile race, the Indianapolis 500, is held in Indiana every year on Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day Observance
Memorial Day is a time for honoring American men and women of the United States armed services who have died in war. At Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., a soldier salutes after placing a flag on a gravestone as part of the Memorial Day ceremonies.
Getty Images/Mark Wilson
