# 1503 - 1973 8c Lyndon B. Johnson
The First Memorial Day
While this event is often considered the major predecessor to Memorial Day, there were several other similar celebrations that came before it. The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves has been done for centuries. And with more than 600,000 casualties during the Civil War, honoring fallen soldiers took on a new significance in America.
According to one account, the first instance of a Civil War soldier’s grave being decorated occurred in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861. And during the war there were other recorded instances of people decorating the graves of soldiers. Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, has declared itself the birthplace of Memorial Day for the decoration of soldiers’ graves that took place on July 4, 1864.
All of these smaller events around the country served as inspiration for the first wide-scale Memorial Day in 1868. On May 5 of that year, John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War veterans’ organization, issued a proclamation that May 30 would be Decoration Day, to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” He chose the day because it wasn’t the anniversary of any battle and according to some sources, because that was the best day for flowers to be in bloom.
Decoration Day proved to be a popular and meaningful event and it grew every year. In 1871, Michigan was the first state to declare it an official state holiday. (All other northern states would do the same by 1890.) And in 1881, now President James Garfield passed legislation granting government workers May 30 the day off of work to decorate soldiers’ graves.
The First Memorial Day
While this event is often considered the major predecessor to Memorial Day, there were several other similar celebrations that came before it. The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves has been done for centuries. And with more than 600,000 casualties during the Civil War, honoring fallen soldiers took on a new significance in America.
According to one account, the first instance of a Civil War soldier’s grave being decorated occurred in Warrenton, Virginia, on June 3, 1861. And during the war there were other recorded instances of people decorating the graves of soldiers. Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, has declared itself the birthplace of Memorial Day for the decoration of soldiers’ graves that took place on July 4, 1864.
All of these smaller events around the country served as inspiration for the first wide-scale Memorial Day in 1868. On May 5 of that year, John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic Civil War veterans’ organization, issued a proclamation that May 30 would be Decoration Day, to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” He chose the day because it wasn’t the anniversary of any battle and according to some sources, because that was the best day for flowers to be in bloom.
Decoration Day proved to be a popular and meaningful event and it grew every year. In 1871, Michigan was the first state to declare it an official state holiday. (All other northern states would do the same by 1890.) And in 1881, now President James Garfield passed legislation granting government workers May 30 the day off of work to decorate soldiers’ graves.