Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance
for those who have died in our nation s service.
There are many stories as to
its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to
being the birthplace of...
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Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance
for those who have died in our nation s service.
There are many stories as to
its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to
being the birthplace of Memorial Day.
There is also evidence that organized
women s groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the
Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are
Sleeping" by Nella L.
Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the
South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source:
Duke University s Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920).
While
Waterloo N.
Y.
was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by
President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it s difficult to prove conclusively
the origins of the day.
It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings;
each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to
honor the war dead in the 1860 s tapped i
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