From Decoration Day to Remembrance: The History of Memorial Day

Across the United States, Memorial Day on the last Monday of May (this year, May 26th) is a time for reflection and remembrance. While often marking the unofficial start of summer with barbecues and gatherings, the holiday’s origins lie in a somber need to honor the immense loss of life during the Civil War.

The sheer number of casualties in the Civil War – over 600,000 – led to the establishment of national cemeteries and a growing desire for a dedicated day of remembrance. In the years following the war’s end in 1865, various communities began holding springtime tributes to the fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.

While numerous towns lay claim to hosting the earliest commemorations, one of the first documented large-scale events took place on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. Formerly enslaved people organized a powerful tribute to Union soldiers buried in a mass grave, reinterring them and adorning their final resting place with flowers and songs of freedom.

However, the formal establishment of a national day of remembrance is largely credited to General John A. Logan, the commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), an organization of Union veterans. On May 5, 1868, Logan issued a proclamation declaring May 30th as “Decoration Day.” He called upon citizens to decorate the graves of comrades who had died in defense of their country “with the choicest flowers of springtime.”   

While many Northern states quickly adopted “Decoration Day” as a holiday, Southern states often continued to honor their war dead on separate days. It wasn’t until after World War I that the holiday began to evolve into a day of remembrance for all American military personnel who died in all wars.

Over time, the name “Memorial Day” gradually became more common, although “Decoration Day” was still used by some. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, creating a three-day weekend. In 1971, it was officially declared a federal holiday under the name Memorial Day.