When did Decoration Day become Memorial Day?
Officially renamed Memorial Day in 1882, the holiday was moved to the last Monday in May in 1968 and in 1971 it was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress. However, many traditionalists feel that the shift of Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday of the month has diminished its solemn nature by making it a movable holiday. In 1999, Sen. Daniel Inouye introduced a bill restoring the traditional May 30th date. The bill never left committee. Q: Why were Confederate families kept out of cemeteries on “Decoration Day?” A: After the Civil War ended, the republic was divided for decades. In some cemeteries, Union veterans kept the families of fallen Confederate soldiers from the graves of loved ones on Decoration Day out of bitter feelings. At the time, former states of the Confederacy also refused to acknowledge this “northern” holiday, preferring to mark their own Decoration Days. (Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana and Tennessee stil
According to the Information Please Almanac: Decoration Day became Memorial Day in 1868, when it was officially proclaimed a holiday by Gen. John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic to honor those that died in the Civil War. The holiday, which was created in Waterloo, N.Y. three years earlier, was known by the name Decoration Day up until that point. It became a holiday honoring veterans of all U.S. wars after World War I. The last Monday in May was designated a U.S. federal holiday in 1971. • ” flags ” Here is an undated photo of a soldier Decorating the graves at Arlington National Cemetery • ” taps ” Here is a history of this bugle call: Of all the military bugle calls, none is so easily recognized or more apt to render emotion than Taps. Up to the Civil War, the traditional call at day’s end was a tune, borrowed from the French, called Lights Out. In July of 1862, in the aftermath of the bloody Seven Days battles, hard on the loss of 600 men and wounded hims
