healing. The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865. It was the deadliest war in American history. The blood of over 600,000 American soldiers stained the soil of nearly every state of the divided union. The South was in shambles. The North was reeling.
So began the long and still unfinished process of In the weeks and months following the war, grieving families and friends would often decorate the graves of the fallen with flowers. In 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, declared May 30th to be “Decoration Day”, a day to adorn the tombs of fallen soldiers with the newly blossoming flowers of spring.
In 1882, the name “Memorial Day” was used for the first time, but it did not become the official name for the holiday until 1967. In 1971, the date was changed to the last Monday of May to allow for a three-day weekend.
