The History of Memorial Day

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Transcript:

The last Monday in May is recognized in the United States as Memorial Day. What is Memorial Day in honor of? How long has it been a holiday?

Memorial Day is a day for remembering those who died while serving their country in the military. It is also used to honor all departed loved ones who served in the military, even if they did not die while in service.

Throughout time, various days have been set aside to honor fallen soldiers. In the United States, this tradition began shortly after the Civil War. More than 620,000 men had died during this war, and decorating the graves of loved ones became a regular occurrence. One of the first significant events took place in Charleston, South Carolina, just after the war had ended. On May 1st, 1865, an observance similar to Memorial Day took place with more than 10,000 people decorating a cemetery and paying tribute to those who had died.

While this event in Charleston was one of the first, other cities also claim to have held the first Memorial Day observance. Waterloo, New York; Columbus, Mississippi; Columbus, Georgia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois have all claimed to be the birthplace of Memorial Day.

For many years, the holiday was not referred to as Memorial Day. Instead, the preferred name was Decoration Day. Throughout the early 1900s, more and more people began to refer to it as Memorial Day. In 1967, the name of the holiday was officially changed. The next year, the date of the holiday changed as well. Memorial Day had always been celebrated on May 30th. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act (passed on June 28th, 1968) declared that Memorial Day would be celebrated on the last Monday in May of each year.

Memorial Day is observed in various ways. Memorial Day is intended to be a respectful and solemn holiday. Flags are to be flown at half-staff throughout the morning. Many cemeteries will hold a special Memorial Day service to honor those who have died. Families will decorate individual graves of loved ones who served in the military. Some families also choose to decorate the graves of other family members who were not in the military. Traditional decorations include wreaths, flowers, crosses, or small flags. There are also thousands of communities across the country which hold Memorial Day parades.

The United States is not the only nation to honor such a day. In Canada and the United Kingdom there is a similar holiday known as Remembrance Day. Australia and New Zealand recognize ANZAC Day (this stands for the Australia-New Zealand Army Corps). There are also seventeen different nations that have a holiday known as Heroes Day.