MANCHESTER, NH – Decoration Day used to be a fixed holiday, May 30, so named in 1868 as a day to break from the routine of life and honor our Civil War dead by decorating their graves. Much about how we celebrate this day has changed over time, including its name.
As Memorial Day now observed always falls on a Monday, this creates a three-day break known as Memorial Day weekend. The Memorial Day weekend is seen as the unofficial start of summer, and as such, it is a popular holiday enjoyed with outdoor events and picnics.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in military service for the United States.
In 2012, the New York Times reported that as many as 25 different places claimed to have begun Memorial Day. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson officially declared Waterloo, N.Y., as the birthplace of Memorial Day, where the village held an event on May 5, 1866. It is known that other informal observations took place before that, such as on May 1, 1865 (two weeks before the end of the Civil War), newly freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, held a ceremony reburying fallen Union soldiers with a proper burial.
While there is some dispute as to the origin of the day, the first Decoration Day was observed on May 30, 1868, under proclamation by General John A. Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. The first official observation involved placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery with Pre-President James Garfield delivering a speech.
Some believe General Logan planned the first Decoration Day for May 30, because both Northern and Southern states would have flowers in bloom by then, though others say the date was chosen because it didn’t coincide with the anniversary of any battles.
In 1868, about 5,000 people decorated graves at Arlington National Cemetery’s first Memorial Day ceremony. About the same number of people still gather there annually.
By 1890, it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war).
Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30 up to 1971 when the National Holiday Act of 1971, designated the last Monday in May to be the Federal holiday.
Since 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.
Since 2001, the ‘National Moment of Remembrance Act’ has defined 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day as the National Moment of Remembrance. A number of organizations throughout the country observe this moment, including Amtrak, whose trains blast their whistles, Major League Baseball and NASCAR.
Each year, the president requests that all governors of the United States direct the flag to be flown at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds and naval vessels. U.S. citizens are also asked to display the flag at half-staff from their homes before noon.
In Manchester there will be two events commemorating Memorial Day – a service at the Manchester Veterans Medical Center at at 10:30 a.m., rain or shine. The VA Medical Center is located at 718 Smyth Road. A parade will be held on Elm Street at 2 p.m.