Memorial Day

Authors

John Neff, University of Mississippi

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

8-3-2009

Abstract

The enormity of human pain and death associated with the Civil War, unprecedented in so many ways, inspired equally novel responses. Most significant among these was the creation of Memorial Day, an annual national holiday urging citizens to decorate the graves of their soldier dead and observe a day of solemn reflection in gratitude and remembrance. So widespread was the impulse to honor the war dead that observances occurred spontaneously in several locations, unbidden by any political or military authority. Because the need was so great, and because so many responded in similar ways, these numerous early ceremonies tend to blur the origins of this now national tradition.

While the issue for many has been to determine, as definitively as may be, the true origin of the tradition, we feel it is more important to observe the power of the impulse to commemorate manifest among so many. We present here, hopefully without prejudice or favor, a survey of some of the early instances of the commemorative impulse along with select references that much later became the national holiday.

[Note: All spelling and capitalization has been preserved from the original sources.]

Relational Format

report

Comments

This compilation of sources, a work in progress, originally appeared on the website of the Center for Civil War Research at the University of Mississippi. Each item included in the compilation is also attached as an additional file for download. Additional detail is available in the "Memory Database" data set, posted separately.

Recommended Citation

Neff, John, "Memorial Day" (2009). Research Files of Dr. John Neff. 5.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/neff_research/5

Accessibility Status

Searchable text