MMemorial Day began as a way to honor soldiers who died in the American Civil War, which claimed the lives of most US military personnel in history. Now, the holiday is celebrated to honor American troops killed in all conflicts.
For some Americans, this holiday also marks a three-day weekend, the beginning of summer, and several traditions. Here are some interesting and surprising facts about Memorial Day.
Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day
After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the beginning of Memorial Day took place in a celebration called Decoration Day, as members of the community, including those from the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Union Veterans organization, visited the graves of fallen Union soldiers in their hometown and decorated them with flowers.
“That’s why it was in late May, because that’s when spring blooms, especially in Charleston, one of the cities that claims to have the first celebration, just weeks after the surrender of General Lee and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” said the Dr. Fink, interim president and assistant professor of history at High Point University, told TIME over the phone.
It is said that Memorial Day began as a southern holiday celebrating African-American freedom
In May 1865, thousands of formerly enslaved black community members in Charleston held a ceremony and parade at the site of an old racetrack, the Washington Race Course and Jockey Club, where about 260 Union soldiers were buried in a mass grave. They reburied the soldiers in individual graves, decorated the resting places, sang freedom songs, and then had a picnic.
“The war ended and Decoration Day was founded by African Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration,” said Dr. David Blight, Sterling Professor of History and African American Studies at Yale University, in his article “The first day of decoration,”About the Charleston celebration. “The war, they boldly announced, was aimed at the triumph of their emancipation over a slave republic, and not the rights of the State, the defense of the home, nor just the valor and sacrifice of the soldiers.”
See more information: The Forgotten Black History of Memorial Day
The holiday was not official until 1968
Although many cities had their own Decoration Day celebrations, the holiday most officially emerged in 1868 when General John A. Logan, the GAR commander-in-chief called on former soldiers and their communities to hold ceremonies and decorate the graves of their fallen comrades. This is why many consider Logan the founder of Memorial Day.
Memorial Day has become a official federal holiday in 1968, with the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act by Congress in June 1968, which took effect in 1971.
It was not always celebrated on the last Monday in May
General Logan called for Decoration Day will take place on May 30th, as it was not the anniversary of any particular battle. With the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1968, Memorial Day was established as a federal holiday on the last Monday in May, so it could be a three-day weekend.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act, he noted that the three-day weekend would make it easier for Americans to travel and better for industrial production and commercial activity since there would be no mid-week shutdown.
“In the postwar years, the narrative is that it is American to honor our traditions, our ideals, and our people with commercial and industrial production and activity,” says Dr. Fink.
There’s a Debate About Where Memorial Day’s “Home” Is
President Johnson named Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1966. Waterloo first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866. However, several other cities also claimed to be the birthplace of the holiday, including Charleson, South Carolina; Columbus, Georgia; and Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.
“Charleston says so. Columbus affirms that,” Dr. Adam Domby, associate professor of history at Auburn University, told TIME over the phone. “But the feeling remains that the act of decoration begins annually in the South, at the graves of American soldiers who died fighting for the freedom of African Americans.”
American Memorial Day is quite different from memorial days in other Anglo-European countries
Fink, it is much more common around the world for countries, especially Anglo-European countries, to have their version of a Memorial Day on November 11, the end of the First World War, also known as Memorial Day. Armistice. .
In America, however, Armistice Day coincides with Veterans Day, which honors all those who served in the United States Armed Forces, while Memorial Day focuses on soldiers who died.
Additionally, Memorial Day in America is often seen as a celebration – many of the day’s earliest iterations included songs, barbecues and lemonade, according to Dr. Domby – while Armistice Day in many other countries is publicly seen as quite solemn.
Confederate Memorial Day arose simultaneously with Memorial Day
After the Civil War, many white southerners refused to participate in Memorial Day, according to Domby. Instead, Confederate Memorial Day, commemorating the deaths of Confederate soldiers in the US, began around the same time. These celebrations never became official federal holidays, but were eventually established as state holidays in some southern states.
MississippiAlabama and South Carolina still recognize Confederate Memorial Day, closing state offices on April 22 and May 10, respectively. FloridaNorth Carolina and Georgia still name the holiday in state law, but no longer close state offices in observance.
How a president celebrates Memorial Day is often viewed through a political lens
There is a more recent narrative that Americans are losing intimacy and care for their troops. And while Dr. Fink says this is partly true in the case of voluntary military service, presidents have been scrutinized for how they celebrate Memorial Day.
“In 1888, U.S. President [Grover Cleveland] was criticized for going fishing on Memorial Day, and in 1911, the first Indy 500 was held on Memorial Day,” says Dr.
In June 1972, TIME commented that the holiday had become “a three-day national celebration that appears to have lost much of its original purpose.”
The usual moment of silence occurs at 3pm.
Memorial Day is often celebrated with the display of American flags at half-mast, accompanied by a moment of silence observed at 3 p.m., a time designated by the National Moment of Remembrance Lawapproved in 2000.
This year, President Joe Biden also asked for a “time that begins in each location at 11:00 am [Memorial Day] as a time when people can come together in prayer and reflection.”
43.8 million people are expected to travel this Memorial Day weekend.
AAA designed that Memorial Day 2024 will be an extremely busy travel weekend. According to their analysis, 43.8 million travelers will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Memorial Day holiday period, a 4% increase from last year.
“We are projecting one million more travelers this holiday weekend compared to 2019, which not only means we are exceeding pre-pandemic levels, but also signals a very busy summer travel season ahead,” said Paula Twidale, senior vice president at AAA. Travel to her website.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
