Memorial Day History, How Medford Remembers: 5 Things To Know

MEDFORD, MA — Memorial Day is a holiday that people in Medford and across America look forward to every year as the start of summer.

But it also gives the country a chance to look back, as the final Monday in May is a day to remember all American lives lost during military service.

Here are five things to know about the history of Memorial Day:

1. It Was Originally Called Decoration Day: Remembering veterans who died while in military service in late May dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. Logan called it “Decoration Day,” which it was known as for several years. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, History.com reported, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

2. Local Services: Medford will hold its traditional Memorial Day ceremony at Oak Grove Ceremony on Monday, May 31, and residents are invited to attend, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn and Veterans Services Director Michael Durham said.

The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Due to current gathering limits, no more than 250 people will be able to gather at the event. The observance will also air on Medford Community Media Monday afternoon.

The ceremony was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's ceremony will be the first larger event the city has hosted since the start of the pandemic, due in large part to vaccine availability, reduced positive cases of COVID-19 in Medford and loosening restrictions statewide, officials said.

"I am excited and honored that we are able to honor our Veterans with a full ceremony this Memorial Day," Lungo-Koehn said. "To be able to honor those individuals who give their lives to protect our freedom and serve our country is so important - not just on Memorial but every day. Being able to come together as a community on this day of remembrance is truly special, and I hope Medford community members will join us for this special ceremony."

Residents are invited to attend the Memorial Day Ceremony but will be asked to practice social distancing and wear a mask while attending the ceremony. City staff will be available with hand sanitizer and to assist with attendees' questions during the ceremony.

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3. Birthplace Of Memorial Day: The Memorial Day holiday tradition in Waterloo, New York, dates back even longer than Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Waterloo first celebrated on May 5, 1866, as local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags, according to History.com.

"The people of Waterloo are justly proud of this outstanding event in the history of their community," then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller said in 1966, when the federal government recognized the upstate village about midway between Rochester and Syracuse as the “birthplace of Memorial Day.”

Although its event is canceled for the second consecutive year due to the coronavirus, Waterloo holds a yearly two-day celebration — complete with a car show, Civil War memorial and 5K races — as a nod to the village’s rich connection to the holiday’s history.

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4. A Civil War Holiday At First: Until World War I, Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as noted above, was only meant to honor those who died while fighting for the union in the Civil War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the holiday took on a new role to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

5. National Moment Of Remembrance: Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. The midday time was chosen “because it is the time when many Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.