When the Civil War ended, veterans and citizens in both the North and South recognized the need to honor those who perished during that bloody conflict. Memorial Day appears to have begun by 1865 in Southern states such as Georgia, Virginia, and South Carolina. Celebrated on various dates in May and June, ladies would lay flowers upon the graves of the fallen. The Grand Army of the Republic commander, Major General John A. Logan, ordered on May 5, 1868, that Union soldiers’ graves be strewn with flowers every May 30, and the date would be known as “Decoration Day.” These events everywhere became very solemn and honorable. As the United States became involved in other wars, these veterans’ graves also required recognition, which resulted in Memorial Day’s formal establishment in 1971 as a national holiday commemorated the last Monday in May.
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Image credit: Celebration of the first official Decoration Day at the Old Amphitheater, Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, May 30, 1873. Stereograph. John F. Jarvis, photographer. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
