1868 – A Holiday Blooms: Decoration Day, later called Memorial Day, is first observed

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Every May, Americans anticipate the unofficial start of summer with the three-day Memorial Day weekend. However, they might be surprised to know that the holiday started not as a national day of remembrance, but as a local commemoration.



The beloved yet somber holiday traces its roots all the way back to the Civil War. Originally called Decoration Day, it honored those who had given their lives defending the United States in times of war. The name Decoration Day refers to the tradition of using flowers to embellish tombstones, and the holiday takes place in late May because that’s when flowers come into bloom.



Macon, Georgia; Waterloo, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Carbondale, Ilinois; and Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, all claim to have held the first Decoration Day in 1866.

However, there’s evidence that the event may have started a year earlier on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. Local Black residents who had been liberated at the end of the Civil War exhumed Union soldiers from a mass grave and gave the bodies proper burials to honor their sacrifice. Then they decorated the grave markers with flowers.

On May 30, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic proclaimed the first “official” Decoration Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Congressman — and later President — James Garfield presided over the program. In 1971, Congress declared it a national holiday, to be observed annually on the last Monday in May.



While most people think Memorial Day honors all veterans, it’s meant to honor only those who died in war defending our country. Today, widespread celebrations include fireworks displays, air shows, and barbecue get-togethers, but placing flowers on graves remains a treasured part of the tradition.