PRX default Piece image
Memorial Day, a national holiday of remembrance, was first celebrated south of the Mason/Dixon line in Petersburg, Virginia at Blandford Church Cemetery. Read the full description.
- Playing
- The First Memorial Day
- From
- Charles McGuigan
It’s about as American as apple pie. The official kickoff of the long summer. As American as a cookout with hot dogs and hamburgers. Almost as American as Independence Day. But where July 4th commemorates our victory over the British, Memorial Day, as it was first observed, remembered the dead of the Civil War. And there were a lot of them to be remembered. Upward of 600,000.
Back then it wasn’t even called Memorial Day. It was known as Decoration Day. In the North, at any rate. It was the idea, so the story goes, of the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic—General John Logan. On May 5 1868 Logan, in General Order Number 11, proclaimed May 30 as a national day of remembrance. Flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
In fact the first Memorial Day was observed a hundred and twenty-seven miles south of Arlington just below the capital of the former confederacy. In a country graveyard in a city built along the bluffs and hills overlooking the Appomattox River. A small city called Petersburg.
To hear the full audio, sign up for a free PRX account or log in.
More from Charles McGuigan
Abbie Waters: The Habit of Being
(00:55:07)
From: Charles McGuigan
Abbie Catherine Waters was just nine years and two days old when she left this world. I have heard men and women who knew Abbie refer to her as an “old soul”, yet she was ...
Page Wilson: Into The Blue
(00:55:45)
From: Charles McGuigan
Page Wilson was a singer and a song writer and host of the most popular music show in Richmond, Virginia. Called the Out of the Blue Radio Revue, it aired for 14 years on ...
Diane Watkins Voice of Virginia Union
(00:55:55)
From: Charles McGuigan
A bell tower that has been mute for 70 years at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia is about to get a voice thanks to Diane Watkins.
Edward Harden Peeples, V: Garden of Liberation
(00:55:38)
From: Charles McGuigan
Edward Harden Peeples V was a racist practically from birth. But once out of the orbit of Richmond, Virginia, he went through a transformation which made him one of the most ...
Page Wilson: Into the Blue
(00:52:46)
From: Charles McGuigan
Page Wilson was a singer and a song writer and host of the most popular music show in Richmond, Virginia. Called the Out of the Blue Radio Revue, it aired for 14 years on ...
People Without A Nation
(00:09:58)
From: Charles McGuigan
There are eleven tribes of Indians who call Virginia home, among them the Chickahominy. And though they all now enjoy state recognition, the federal government doesn’t ...
Roland Scott: The Art of Transformation
(00:53:46)
From: Charles McGuigan
Rolanda Scott can take a chunk of solid glass, drop it in a flower pot then super heat it in her kiln, turning it into liquid, which she then pours it into a mold, creating a ...
Steve Moore: Tears of a Clown
(00:52:04)
From: Charles McGuigan
Charmed lives lack for something. If you’re born in a state of nirvana or somehow privileged as a member of the elect, what’s the point? It’s only through trials, and the ...
Lindsay Ess : Becoming Whole
(00:50:17)
From: Charles McGuigan
Lindsay Ess was at the top of her form, doing what she knew how to do best. Fashion was her passion. She breathed it; she lived it. Modeling. Photo shoots. Directing fashion ...
Lady E: Two Times A Child
(00:56:36)
From: Charles McGuigan
Lady E tells me that some nights when she’s finished singing and returns to her apartment and is having trouble with the zipper on her dress, she’ll call out for Bubbie to ...
Related Pieces
Piece Description
It’s about as American as apple pie. The official kickoff of the long summer. As American as a cookout with hot dogs and hamburgers. Almost as American as Independence Day. But where July 4th commemorates our victory over the British, Memorial Day, as it was first observed, remembered the dead of the Civil War. And there were a lot of them to be remembered. Upward of 600,000.
Back then it wasn’t even called Memorial Day. It was known as Decoration Day. In the North, at any rate. It was the idea, so the story goes, of the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic—General John Logan. On May 5 1868 Logan, in General Order Number 11, proclaimed May 30 as a national day of remembrance. Flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
In fact the first Memorial Day was observed a hundred and twenty-seven miles south of Arlington just below the capital of the former confederacy. In a country graveyard in a city built along the bluffs and hills overlooking the Appomattox River. A small city called Petersburg.
Transcript
The First Memorial Day
NARRATIVE 1
1:05
It’s about as American as apple pie. The official kickoff of the long summer. As American as a cookout with hot dogs and hamburgers. Almost as American as Independence Day. But where July 4th commemorates our victory over the British, Memorial Day, as it was first observed, remembered the dead of the Civil War. And there were a lot of them to be remembered. Upward of 600,000.
Back then it wasn’t even called Memorial Day. It was known as Decoration Day. In the North, at any rate. It was the idea, so the story goes, of the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic—General John Logan. On May 5 1868 Logan, in General Order Number 11, proclaimed May 30 as a national day of remembrance. Flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
In fact the first Memorial Day was observed a hundred...
Read the full transcript
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle Hymn of the Republic | Roger McGuinn | 00:00 |
Of 2 purchasers of this piece...
- 1 also bought:
- 1 also bought:Dia's Diary: My Mother (00:06:08)
- 1 also bought:
Civil War Widows (00:12:59) - 1 also bought:
Garbage Man-Long Version (00:09:00) - 1 also bought:My Father's Songs (00:03:23)
