For many Americans, Memorial Day marks the start of summer: cookouts, parades, pools opening and a long weekend. But the day has deep roots in grief. It grew out of the enormous loss of the Civil War, when communities across a divided nation searched for ways to honor their dead.
Flowers on the graves
The Civil War took more American lives than any other conflict in the nation’s history. In its aftermath, towns in both the North and the South began holding springtime ceremonies to decorate soldiers’ graves with flowers, wreaths and flags. These observances went by different names and happened on different dates, and several communities have claimed to be the first.
Among the earliest was a gathering in Charleston, South Carolina, in the spring of 1865, when formerly enslaved people and others honored Union soldiers who had died in a prison camp there, reburying them with dignity and holding a procession. In 1966, the federal government recognized Waterloo, New York, which began holding a community-wide observance in 1866, as the official birthplace of Memorial Day. The truth is that the custom sprang up in many places at once, out of shared sorrow.
A national day
In 1868, General John A. Logan, the leader of an organization of Union veterans, called for a day of remembrance on May 30, when graves would be decorated with flowers. That first large observance included a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. The day became widely known as Decoration Day, and over the following decades states adopted it as a holiday.
At first the day focused on those who died in the Civil War. After World War I, it broadened to honor Americans who died in all of the nation’s wars. Over time the name Memorial Day became more common, and it eventually became the official name in federal law.
From May 30 to a Monday
For about a century, Memorial Day was observed on May 30, whatever day of the week it fell on. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act, passed in 1968 and taking effect in 1971, moved it to the last Monday in May, creating the three-day weekend we know today.
Some worried that the long weekend would make it easier to forget the day’s purpose. In 2000, Congress established the National Moment of Remembrance, inviting Americans to pause at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day in honor of those who died in military service.
Keeping the meaning
The history of Memorial Day is a reminder that remembrance is something people choose to do, again and again. The first observances were organized by ordinary people who refused to let the dead be forgotten. They carried flowers to the graves because it was the one thing they could still do.
Enjoying the long weekend and honoring its meaning are not at odds. A visit to a cemetery, a moment of silence at 3 p.m. or a few minutes learning about someone who gave their life in service can sit comfortably alongside the cookout. That is very much in the spirit of the day.
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