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Memorial Day is a day to honor and mourn those who gave their lives in service to their country. One of the earliest known origins, May 1865 when free Blacks in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union prisoners of war that had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. It took them two weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for there freedom. They also held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children singing in honor of the fallen. Memorial Day was originally known as ‘Decoration Day’, named after the tradition of decorating a soldier’s grave with flowers. It was originally observed on May 30th every year. That was changed in 1970 to the last Monday of May.
