I read a blog post today about observing Memorial day and agreed whole heartedly that taking time to really understand what the day commemorates is important. After thinking about it for a bit, I began to re-blog the originating post only to find myself hesitating so I took a closer look and decided that I'd write my own instead.
Credit to Robert Gilbert who wrote the original post that Alison Shuman re-posted, for bringing my attention to the topic.
Reading about Memorial day, there are certain interesting tidbits that stand out to me. Some I knew, some I did not so I'm glad to have taken this opportunity to review.
There are a lot of facts noted in the Wikipedia article and I'm sure there is a great deal more for those who are interested to research but I want to simply point out one of the many pieces that stands out for me as the essence of Memorial Day.
"In Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, freedmen (freed enslaved Africans) celebrated at the Washington Race Course, today the location of Hampton Park. The site had been used as a temporary Confederate prison camp for captured Union soldiers in 1865, as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died there. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, freedmen exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reinterred them in individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. On May 1, 1865, a crowd of up to ten thousand, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, proceeded to the location for events that included sermons, singing, and a picnic on the grounds, thereby creating the first Decoration Day-type celebration"
Text imported from Wikipedia so please see their footnotes which credit David W. Blight, "Decoration Day: The Origins of Memorial Day in North and South" (2004) for this piece of information.
It's a sign of the tims that the official government website which provides additional information about Memorial Day Observances, also has links to information about Barbecue Safety, Swim Safety and the like. Check it out here.
How will you choose to observe Memorial Day this year?
Comments(0)