"Louisiana furnished 24,000 Black men to help put down the rebellion. Who are the ones that do it down South but the Black people?" – Comrade Boyle, Grand Army of the Republic, 1907.
Origins of Memorial Day:
At the April 1901 dedication of the General John A. Logan Memorial, speakers praised General Logan's General Order No. 11 from 1868, which formalized Memorial Day. One of the earliest Memorial Day observances was on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina, where freed people honored 257 Union prisoners of war.
Role of African Americans:
After the Civil War, African Americans played a significant role in Memorial Day celebrations, especially in the South. During Reconstruction, they were the primary observers. After Reconstruction ended, they used Memorial Day speeches to denounce efforts to rehabilitate the Confederate cause. In 1878, Frederick Douglass emphasized the importance of remembering the war's moral divide.
From the 1880s through the 1910s, African American veterans led many Memorial Day events. In 1898, Black veterans protested their placement behind a white cadet brigade in a Uniontown, Pennsylvania parade, leading to their prominent placement the following year.
Evolution of Memorial Day:
In 1898, President McKinley allowed Confederate war dead to be buried in National Cemeteries, broadening Memorial Day to honor all American war dead. Despite this, many Union veterans believed the day should only honor Union dead. In 1900, the Maryland G.A.R. refused to attend a dedication honoring both Confederate and Union soldiers.
Black Civil War veterans continued to play a crucial role in Memorial Day until the last one, Joseph Clovese, died in 1951 at 107 years old. Clovese, who served in the 63rd United States Colored Infantry, participated in Memorial Day and July 4th events just before his death and was buried with full military honors.
"The Constitution that governs us was sustained by the sword and bayonet. The Black soldier played an important part, and as evidence of their valor, look at yonder graves." – M.C. Maxfield, D.C. Memorial Day ceremony, 1911.