We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies. (Moina Michael, 1915)
Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, can be traced, in part, to the women of the Confederate South who decorated the graves of their dead soldiers during the Civil War.
A memorial decoration day was proclaimed on May 5, 1868 in Washington D.C. by General John Logan, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union Army veterans’ organization formed in 1866, in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, with flowers placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers.
“Memorial Day” was first used in 1882 but did not become the “official” name until 1967. A law passed in 1968 moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May to provide a 3 day holiday. The new holiday took effect in 1971.
Image: Timothy O’Sullivan, Incidents of War, Gettysburg dead, 1863. Source: faculty.smu.edu/sweisenb/.
Sources and further reading:
Memorial Day History; wikipedia.
Technorati Tags: Memorial Day, Decoration Day, General John Logan, Moina Michael
If only that was written on a toilet. lol