This weekend, we commemorate Memorial Day. It is an important holiday that has
evolved over the years and commemorates those who have died in service to our
country. The origin of Memorial Day traces back to just after the close of the Civil War.
In the waning years of the Civil War, people who lost a loved one fighting in the war
began to “decorate” the graves of the fallen with flowers. This practice was known as
decoration days and dates all the way back to the ancient Roman Empire, where graves
were strewn with flowers to commemorate the fallen.
On May 5, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a powerful political
organization mainly composed of veterans and their families, issued General Order No.
11 or the “Memorial Day Act.” The act officially established what is now known as
“Memorial Day” as “Decoration Day” to officially honor the fallen in war and decorate
their graves with flowers. According to the National Cemetery Association, communities
essentially had informal competitions to see which communities did the best job at
decorating graves. Recent scholarly research has identified a group of women in
Columbus, Georgia, in April of 1866 who were likely the first to clearly call for a
“Memorial Day” or “Decoration Day” to pay homage to the fallen. While the Columbus,
Georgia event is currently most recognized as the first of its kind, documentation exists
that shows a similar event occurred in October of 1864 in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.
According to local records, three women decorated the graves of all the fallen soldiers
buried in the town. Other reports tell of an event that took place on May 1, 1865, where
a group of freed slaves and Northern abolitionists decorated the graves of fallen
soldiers, including 257 Union soldiers, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Very quickly after the 1868 General Order, Decoration Day was designated as May 30 th
and the custom began to spread across the country. In 1880, New York became the first
State to officially declare May 30 th as “Decoration Day.” All of the remaining Union
States followed by 1890. In 1891, the Army officially designated it as its policy to
decorate graves and perform ceremonies in observance of the holiday.
Over the ensuing decades, the practice grew and ceremonies evolved. Sometime after
World War I, the commonly used name of the holiday began to shift from “Decoration
Day" to “Memorial Day.” In 1950, Congress passed a memorializing resolution asking
people to pray and commemorate Memorial Day. In 1968, under the Uniform Holiday
Act Memorial Day was officially designated a National Holiday and moved from May 30th
to the final Monday in May. Every Memorial Day, the National commemoration takes
place at 3:00pm at Arlington National Cemetery.
The name and traditions surrounding Memorial Day have evolved over the years but the
main emphasis of the holiday remains remembrance of our fallen heroes. According to
the Veterans Administration, 1,362,862 men and women have died in America’s wars
and conflicts. We owe it to these brave souls to pause and remember their sacrifices.
This coming weekend, enjoy your parties, barbecues, family and friends, but please
remember to recall the fallen; please say a prayer and remember they are the reason
why we enjoy the freedoms we have today.
This weekend there are numerous opportunities locally to pay your respects to our
fallen including our Town of Clarkstown ceremony on Friday, May 23rd, at 11am at
Street Community Center, 31 Zukor Rd., New City. Please consider joining us or
attending one of the other ceremonies occurring in the Town and County.
