Remembering Memorial Day
Added 2022-05-31 02:34:30 +0000 UTCOn this Memorial Day, I think it’s important to learn the history of the day of remembrance. The first nationwide day of commemoration was in 1868, but there are records of emancipated black Americans celebrating Memorial Day as early as a month after the end of the Civil War in 1865. This is a photo of the Washington Race Course and Jockey Club in South Carolina. This is where the first Memorial Day took place. The race course, once a high-end club for southern elites, was turned into holding camp for Union prisoners of war. After the war, the confederates abandoned the site and the emancipated people remained to give proper burials to the Union soldiers. And THEN! 10,000 people, mostly free Black Americans, showed up to parade the race track and sing for the dead. There are two news accounts of this from the time period confirming the event, and yet it was never recognized as the first Memorial Day.
Additional Reading:
https://www.history.com/.amp/news/memorial-day-civil-war-slavery-charleston
https://time.com/5836444/black-memorial-day/
Comments
There is so much of our history that never gets told. Thanks for sharing Danielle. You are always giving us interesting info, no matter the topic. We should all try to encourage correcting and broading our understanding of Black, Latino and other minority contributions to our collective history.
SteadyD
2022-05-31 04:24:55 +0000 UTCWow! I never knew this account of the first Memorial Day. Another example of black history swept aside without any acknowledgement in history books. Thank you for enlightening story. You are so multifaceted Danielle.
David Johnson
2022-05-31 03:17:11 +0000 UTCInteresting reading! Thanks for sharing.
Greg Smith
2022-05-31 02:39:46 +0000 UTC
