When was Memorial Day first celebrated?
Memorial Day was first celebrated on May 30, 1868 as "Decoration Day." General John Alexander Logan ordered May 30 to be the official day to decorate graves of those who died during the Civil War.
In 1971 it was changed to the last Monday in May to make way for Federal scheduling of national holidays.
” The Decoration Day tradition began in 1868. Civil War General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic chose the original date of May 30. My freshman year in high school was the last one I spent in Mound. I remember someone that sat behind me in algebra class that year. His name was Bob DeVinney. Bob was new to Grandview Junior High School, having come over from Our Lady of the Lake School that fall. He was a nice guy, funny and sweet. Then my family moved to the Watertown School District in the spring. In 1969, Bob DeVinney was killed in Vietnam. Every year, I look for his name in the Memorial Day notices in the paper. It says, “Love’s greatest gift, Remembrance.” I think about Bob and the other sweet, funny guys that were lost. The celebration of Memorial Day will always bring back poignant memories. My mother passed away on May 25, 1997. That year Memorial Day fell on May 26. We met with the minister to plan Mother’s funeral that day. Her memorial service was held on May 31. I
Memorial day was first celebrated on May 30, 1968. It was observed by placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers during the first national celebration. Gen. James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which around 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were buried there. • Why is Memorial Day celebrated on May 30? Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1968, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. This date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. Who started the custom of wearing red poppies? In 1915, inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields,” Moina Michael replied with her own poem. We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor
