Americans are celebrating Memorial Day today, honoring those members of the United States Armed Forces killed in the line of duty. But how did the commemoration come about? What is its history and significance? And what should it mean to you? Political Science and History professor James Newsom, Ph.D., explains.
Mike Landess: For UT Tyler Radio, I’m Mike Landess. This is Memorial Day 2023, and while most Americans observe it in some form or another, maybe the local sale at the Home Depot, a lot of them don’t really know the difference between it and Veterans Day, or even how it all began. So here to give us some clarity on this special day is UT Tyler Political Science and History professor, Dr. James Newsom. Welcome.
James Newsom: Thank you.
Mike Landess: So, how did it get started?
James Newsom: Memorial Day, or as it was originally known, Decoration Day, occurred and was increasingly an event that occurred during and immediately after the Civil War. You know, when you have 650,000 American dead, that makes an impact on the social psyche. And so while it was locally commemorated, communities would have a day set aside to go decorate cemeteries and honor the fallen. I really think, and there’s some indication that celebrating fallen veterans, was commemorated even much further back. It was just a more family-centered event that took place at the local family plot with family gathered around the fallen’s grave and a quiet ceremony. But that’s not really recorded for posterity, so it kind of falls by the wayside. But we have our first real documented commemorations occurring throughout the Civil War. Charleston, Columbus, Mississippi, places like that, that they honor the fallen.
But Decoration Day really gets its incentive immediately after the war in 1868 when Union General John Logan, and I say Union, just to distinguish, he was a northern general. Because by 1868, the war is over, but he was the commanding general over the Grand Army of the Republic. The Grand Army of the Republic, despite its name, was not a military organization per se. It was a political organization, the GAR, and it was a fraternal organization of veterans, very much like say the American Legion today. And they would hold regular meetings. They advocated for veterans’ causes: pension increases, relaxation of pension application requirements, things like that. But General Logan declared in 1868 that there should be a day of commemoration that he called Decoration Day, but almost immediately other people began using the term “Memorial Day.” So it depended on where you were, who you were as to which term you used. And they set aside this day, he specifically declared May 31, sorry, May 30, as the day for this commemoration. And he declared all GAR camps across the nation should commemorate it.
And so it became a regular entity, especially in the north because the GAR was a northern organization. But it gained momentum throughout the South as well. And from 1868 through the 1870s, increasingly states adopted the practice of holding May 30 as the day of commemoration for the dead. It wasn’t to honor living veterans; it was to go to cemeteries, go to church services to pray for, fellowship with, to recount stories about those who had fallen.
Mike Landess: And this is the key difference between this and Veterans Day.
James Newsom: Absolutely. Or even Armed Forces Day. As one of my veteran friends posted on Facebook, Veterans Day is for the living, Memorial Day is for the dead.
Mike Landess: Simple enough.
James Newsom: Simple enough. And state by state, this idea of commemorating the dead veterans caught on, so that by World War I, virtually every state was holding some type of commemoration, and they adopted May 30 as the date. And by the way, that kind of continued until the 1970s. When government intervened and standardized three or four holidays, moving them to Monday to create the three-day weekend, which I think is problematic for Memorial Day in and of itself. But moving it from May 30 to a floating holiday that makes a three-day weekend as to when that will fall in the last week of May. And so it was an increasingly accepted practice among communities, states, and then by the 1960s into the 1970s, the federal government recognizing it and making it a national holiday, a uniform national holiday. Generally after World War I, the name “Decoration Day” fell out of usage. It was still used, but it fell out of usage.
“Memorial Day” was increasingly adopted as the terminology, and as each war passed, and more honored dead were added to communities. Those celebrations and commemorations took various forms. You see them all over, especially East Texas. You see the monuments to veterans of different wars. So rather than going to specific cemeteries, there would be a corporate honoring of the fallen in the community square, if you will. And increasingly as each war passes, there’s a new monument added with the names of those who fell. It was a major community event up until the federal government intervened.
Mike Landess: And today, the way in which it’s honored, it’s commemorated — does it bother you as an historian, the fact that we have managed to managed to make it into a shopping holiday?
James Newsom: It does. There is a federal request that went out in 2000 that asked Americans at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day to stop and have a moment of reflection. I know it’s become the first day of summer. It’s the official beginning of the summer, but you have that freedom because of those who, for those who died, who gave it all. They’re worthy of at least a moment of reflection.
Mike Landess: Our guest has been UT Tyler Political Science and History professor, Dr. James Newsom. To hear this interview again or to share it, go to KVUT.org. I’m Mike Landess for UT Tyler Radio.
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