This weekend marks the annual Memorial Day observance in America. It was called Decoration Day until 1882. No one knows exactly how or where the holiday began, but it had its origins in the carnage of the Civil War and the desire to remember those who fell. In 1966, Congress officially recognized Waterloo, New York, as the holiday’s birthplace. Waterloo held an observance May 5, 1866, but Memorial Day appears to have grown out of spontaneous acts of remembrance around the country.

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Three women in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, began decorating graves in 1864.

Julia Pierpont, wife of Francis H. Pierpont, governor of the Restored Government of Virginia, and their daughter Anna decorated the graves of Union soldiers in Richmond with flowers, probably in May 1866. The following year, Richmond decorated Confederate graves. For many years, North and South observed separate remembrance days.

In 1868, General John A. "Blackjack" Logan officially set aside May 30th as Decoration Day, reportedly based on the French Day of Ashes, when Napoleon’s remains were returned from St. Helena. In 1971, the holiday was changed to the last Monday in May in order to provide a three-day weekend.

This year, the Gettysburg Foundation conducted a survey, asking Americans about their knowledge of Memorial Day’s history. Among its findings:

• One half of Americans realize that “Four Score and Seven Years Ago” in the Gettysburg Address refers to the Declaration of Independence. One-third of Americans think that it refers to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
• 65% of respondents think that Memorial Day got its start after World War I. In actuality, Memorial Day began after the Civil War.
• 60 percent of Americans know that the Battle of Gettysburg took place in Pennsylvania, while 35 percent think that the Battle of Gettysburg took place in Virginia.

The survey results show that a majority of Americans — 82 percent — agree it is very important that we pause to honor the men and women who have died serving their country, the foundation reports. And while a sizable majority agreed on the importance of the day, less than one quarter knew that it had its beginnings in the Civil War era.

“When you think about it,” Gettysburg Foundation President Robert C. Wilburn notes, “our country’s first Memorial Day probably occurred on November 19, 1863, when Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Pennsylvania.”

It would take years before Memorial Day became a tribute not only to all of the Civil War dead, but to soldiers who have given their lives in all of the nation’s wars.

While 71 percent of survey respondents said they would observe Memorial Day in some way, just 15 percent said they would honor the sacrifices of the nation’s soldiers by spending time at a national cemetery or battlefield. Another 15 percent said they would attend a Memorial Day event.

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