Book of Days

It is Memorial Day and we remember all who gave their lives for their country. This is the purpose of Memorial Day, pure and simple. It is an American holiday, though versions of it are celebrated around the globe, like in Finland, where the Third Sunday of May––Kaatuneiden Muistopäivä, or Commemoration Day––is held in remembrance of those who died in Finnish wars. As we saw in the previous chapter of this Book of Days, this tradition of remembering the dead at this time of year, especially in the military, goes back to Ancient Rome.

Be that as it may, for us here in the United States it goes back to the Civil War. In 1865, an “Independence Day of a Second American Revolution” was organized in Charleston by freed slaves, and on that May day, they honored Union soldiers buried there in unmarked graves. There were other informal early summer decoration days throughout the country during the war: in Warrenton, Virginia in 1861, in Savannah in 1863, in Gettysburg in 1864, and in Waterloo, New York, after the war had ended, in 1866.

It was a simple decoration day back then and that’s the name folks gave to it: Decoration Day, as they decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers. Just as the Romans did. Again, flowers for remembrance. In 1868, the first formal celebration of Decoration Day was held at Arlington National Cemetery by the Grand Army of the Republic, and Major General John Logan chose the date: May 30, for he believed on that date flowers would be in bloom all across the country. This set the date for Memorial Day for the next century.

Memorial Day has also become our American unofficial start of summer, especially now that it is part of a long weekend, a change that took place in 1968 with the passage of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The holiday is now a moveable one, celebrated each year on the last Monday of May. This year, however, things work out that we get to celebrate Memorial Day on the day that Major General John Logan intended, which is kind of nice, no? Flowers are in bloom across this great country this 30th of May. It is a good day to remember all who died in service to this country and for all that blooms within it.

Image: “Rainy Day, Fifth Avenue” by Childe Hassam. Oil on canvas, 1916 [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons.

Daniel Inouye, United States senator from the State of Hawaii, was a World War II veteran and a man who championed the idea of returning our Memorial Day celebration to its original May 30 date. He first introduced the measure to the Senate in 1987; he continued on his quest each year until he died in 2012. Safe to say Senator Inouye had some pretty strong opinions about Memorial Day. He was not alone. Many veterans’ groups like the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) have shared Senator Inouye’s opinion. Their view is one we touched upon in a previous chapter of this blog: three day weekends are great, but there is an unintended effect in that for many of us, the original intent and meaning of the holiday can be easily lost.

So for today, the traditional Memorial Day date, we’ll take a look at the day’s origins. The idea always was to honor soldiers who had died in service to their country, and many communities claim the origin of Memorial Day, which, earlier on, was known as Decoration Day. President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation in 1966 naming Waterloo, New York, as the birthplace of the holiday one hundred years earlier, in 1866. But there are many who would disagree, especially folks in Warrenton, Virginia, who claim to have memorialized the graves of Civil War soldiers in 1861, or folks in Savannah or Gettysburg, who claim to have done the same in 1863 and 1864.

The first organized celebration of the day is thought to have been one in Charleston, South Carolina, organized by freed slaves, memorializing Union soldiers buried there in unmarked graves. The event was dubbed an “Independence Day of a Second American Revolution.” That was in 1865. And in 1868, a formal celebration was held at Arlington National Cemetery. The 30th of May was chosen for that celebration by the Grand Army of the Republic; Major General John Logan chose the date because he believed it was a date when flowers would be in bloom all across the country. Perfect, for the focus of Decoration Day was to decorate the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers.

By that year, Decoration Day events were being held across the country on the 30th of May, the commonality being that the day memorialized those who had lost their lives in the greatest conflict in the nation’s history. Eventually, the day came to memorialize the loss of lives from every American war, not just the Civil War.

Of course it doesn’t matter necessarily what day we celebrate Memorial Day; the important thing is we remember the spirit and dignity of the day, whether it be the 30th of May each year or the last Monday of May.

Image: A scene from a Decoration Day penny postcard sent on May 25, 1910, from Ada to her cousin Charles in New Jersey, telling him how she hopes to visit during her summer vacation in July. I hope they had a nice visit!