Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, honors American men and women who died in service. It began after the Civil War and was later expanded to include all war dead. The last Monday in May was designated as Memorial Day in 1968. It is a federal holiday and often includes visits to cemeteries and ceremonies to commemorate the fallen.
Memorial Day has been celebrated in the United States since 1860, although it was originally known as Remembrance Day. The history of this holiday is long and somewhat tangled, with multiple cities and individuals claiming the invention of Memorial Day as an organized holiday . In all likelihood, credit for Memorial Day should be shared among a number of individuals.
This holiday occurs on the last Monday in May and is reserved for the remembrance of American men and women who have died in the service of their country. Traditionally, people often visit cemeteries on Memorial Day to decorate the graves of deceased veterans and service members, and ceremonies are often held during military ceremonies to commemorate America’s war dead. Politicians such as the president are often present at such ceremonies as a sign of respect.
The desire to decorate the graves of the dead is, of course, ancient, but in the American Civil War such a large number died that it was difficult for many Americans to cope with the number of dead. In both the north and south, people decorated the graves of both allied and enemy dead as a sign of respect, with southern women in particular known for organized grave-care expeditions. At the end of the Civil War, the idea of establishing a formal holiday to honor the war dead was established, and Decoration Day was born.
Numerous American cities have begun holding their own Decorating Days, with General John Logan popularizing the holiday with statements and visits to graveyards. In 1868, Logan signed a formal proclamation designating May 30 as “Decoration Day.” The official date of May 30 was chosen because it did not fall on the anniversary of a battle, encouraging people to honor all Civil War dead rather than remember a specific event.
After World War I, people broadened the meaning of Decoration Day, choosing to honor all war dead, rather than just those of the Civil War. After World War II, the term “Remembrance Day” began to be more common. A 1968 act of Congress designated the last Monday in May as Memorial Day in an effort to make the celebration of federal holidays more uniform and convenient by ensuring that the date did not fall on the weekend or in the middle of the week.
Because Memorial Day is a federal holiday, institutions such as banks, schools, and post offices are not open on Memorial Day. Some communities take the day as an opportunity to hold a formal memorial event that includes an expedition to local cemeteries, and some people observe a moment of silence on Memorial Day to honor America’s war dead.
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