— The origin of Memorial Day— The origin of Memorial Day trace back to 1865 when freed slaves started a tradition to honor fallen Union soldiers and to celebrate emancipation and commemorate those who died for that cause. A THREAD

In 1865, black people in Charleston, South Carolina, held a series of memorials & rituals to honor unnamed fallen Union soldiers and celebrate the struggle against slavery. One of the largest memorial took place on May 1st 1865.

Rediscovery of the 1865 Story: For over a century, the Charleston story was largely omitted from mainstream national narratives about Memorial Day's origin. It was brought back to public attention through the research of historian David Blight, who in the 1990s uncovered archives describing the event in detail. the national holiday has multiple roots in local mourning and decoration practices, the 1865 Charleston event is a critically important and arguably the first organized, public, and large scale commemoration of Union dead by those who directly understood the war's stakes freed slaves honoring the soldiers who died for the cause of emancipation. It is a powerful testament to the day's original, profound meaning, intertwining mourning, gratitude, and the celebration of freedom. ORIGIN (1865) · Event: First Decoration Day. · Date: May 1, 1865. · Location: Charleston, South Carolina (Washington Race Course). · Organizers & Primary Participants: Newly freed African Americans, aided by teachers, missionaries, and Union regiments. · Action: Freedmen properly re-interred 257+ Union prisoners from a mass grave, built a fence around the new cemetery, and held a parade of 10,000. Graves were decorated with flowers. · Significance: The first documented, large-scale, organized public ritual to honor Union war dead. Its purpose was to honor those who died for emancipation. NATIONALIZATION (1868) · Date: May 5 & 30, 1868. · Agent: General John A. Logan, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). · Action: Issued General Order No. 11 declaring May 30 as a nationwide "Decoration Day" to adorn Union graves. The date was chosen for optimal nationwide flower bloom, not a battle anniversary. · First National Observance: Held at Arlington National Cemetery, with speeches and decoration of 20,000+ graves. EVOLUTION INTO MODERN HOLIDAY · Late 19th Century: "Decoration Day" was a Northern/prairie state tradition. Most Southern states honored Confederate dead on separate days. · Post-WWI: Scope expanded to honor American dead from all wars. · 1967: Federal law officially changed the name to "Memorial Day." · 1971: The Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect, moving the observance from the fixed date of May 30 to the last Monday in May, creating the three-day weekend. NOTES: · Parallel Local Traditions (1865-1868): Many towns (e.g., Waterloo, NY; Columbus, MS) had local decorating ceremonies. .The 1865 Charleston event is the earliest and most politically significant of these. Memorial Day has a dual origin: 1) The 1865 freedpeople's commemoration of emancipation and sacrifice, and 2) The 1868 GAR order, which unified local practices into a national tradition. The holiday's meaning broadened over a century from Civil War to all wars.

@AfricanArchives black history don't always have to be slave history

@AfricanArchives That’s when they realized which party risked their life to free them, now they cling to the false promises from a party that uses them!

@AfricanArchives Sorry, no. It goes back further...a day set aside to remember groups is a tale as old as time. Blacks did not invent memorial day, there is no strong argument which race or group did. But America DID turn it into a national holiday for fallen soldiers....nothing to do with race.