That Time Black America Created Memorial Day
How did Black America create Memorial Day? In this special episode of the Black Is America podcast, we explore the little-known story of recently enslaved citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, honored Union soldiers. In doing so, they...
How did Black America create Memorial Day?
In this special episode of the Black Is America podcast, we explore the little-known story of recently enslaved citizens of Charleston, South Carolina, honored Union soldiers. In doing so, they inadvertently create a holiday we celebrate today.
In this episode, you will hear:
- How the Charlestonians honored the Union Soldiers
- Who was given credit for creating Memorial Day
- How South Carolina has acknowledged what happened on May 1, 1865.
Yale professor David W. Blight is featured in this episode. His audio is courtesy of The New York Historical Society and Yale University.
This episode was also created due to sources from The Root.com, History.com, and Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ.
Dominic Lawson:
Hey, did I ever tell you about that time that Black America created Memorial Day? And why does someone come around three years later and get credit for the creation of that holiday? Well, let me put you on game for this very quick episode of Black Is America.
Dominic Lawson:
Before I share this story, let's make a few announcements. First, let me say thank you so much for listening to the Black is America Podcast. We have gotten so much great feedback about the show, along with some amazing reviews by you, our listener. Here is just some of the feedback we have gotten:
Dominic Lawson:
"Awesome storytelling. The production on this one is top-notch, from the compelling storytelling to the engaging content. It really draws you in and educates you at the same time. Keep up the great work on this one. These are powerful stories." Thank you so much for that one.
Dominic Lawson:
This one is labeled epic. "I wish I could give this 10 stars considering the way Dominic captures the audience from the beginning, painting a vivid scene that make you forget you're actually listening to a podcast." You have no idea as a podcaster, how much I truly appreciate that comment. "He has truly mastered his craft as a podcaster." I really hope so. Thank you so much for that.
Dominic Lawson:
And this one was just straight to the point. "This is an award-winning podcast." That means so much to me. And it is actually funny you say that because that is exactly what this podcast is now, award- winning. During our current break, the Black Is America Podcast was the recipient of not one, not two, not three, but four awards from the 28th Annual Communicator Awards, which are judged and sanctioned by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts.
Dominic Lawson:
The judges are made up of executives from the likes of Amazon, Disney, Spotify, ESPN, and more. We were awarded for our work on the episode, Lt. John Fox: An All-American Hero. It was the recipient of the award of distinction for a documentary episode and also the award of excellence for writing, storytelling, and host. I just want to say thank you to all of the judges and everyone who has worked so hard on this show.
Dominic Lawson:
And you, the listeners and fans of the show, none of this is possible without you. Thank you so much for that. And with that being said, we are hard at work on the second half of season one that will be released in August with our feature on Ann Lowe, an American original. But because I love you and I am grateful to you, I didn't want to have you wait that long for some new content.
Dominic Lawson:
So that would lead me back to the story at hand. It's May 1st, 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina, almost a month before General Robert E. Lee has surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. Now, this marks the technical end of the civil war, but at this point, there's still fighting being carried out in Tennessee and Texas. Now, there is a race track that was being used right before the end of the war, by the Confederacy as a place for captured union soldiers.
Dominic Lawson:
At this race track, roughly 260 prisoners die, many due to disease, and they will be buried in a mass unmarked grave. However, a group of newly free Black Americans would do something about this. Weeks before May 1st, these Americans made their way to the racetrack and they did something quite remarkable.
David Blight:
All the Black folks at Charleston got organized. They knew about all this.
Dominic Lawson:
This is David Blight, award-winning Sterling Professor of History and African American Studies at Yale University. He explains in great detail what these great Americans did.
David Blight:
They went to the site, they reinterred all the graves, the barrier, the men, they couldn't mark them with names. They didn't have any names. And they made them proper graves and they built a fence all the way around this cemetery about 100 yards long and 50, 60 yards deep and they whitewashed the fence. And over an Archway, they painted the inscription "Martyrs of the Race Course."
Dominic Lawson:
Yeah, that won't be the last instance of whitewashing in this story, but I digress. Anyways, that brings us to May 1st, 1865. They honored those great heroes with a grand ceremony. Here again, is David Blight.
David Blight:
And then on May 1st, 1865, they held a parade of 10,000 people on the race track led by 3,000 Black children carrying armloads of roses and singing John Brown's Body. Followed then by Black women, then by Black men, it was regimented this way. Then by contingence of Union infantry. Everybody marched all the way around the race track. As many as could fit got into the gravesite.
David Blight:
Five Black preachers read from scripture, a children's choir sang the national anthem America the Beautiful and several spirituals. And then they broke from that and went back into the infield of the race track and did essentially what you and I do on Memorial Day, they ran races, they listened to 16 speeches by one count, and the troops marched back and forth, and they held picnics. This was the first Memorial Day. African Americans invented Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina.
Dominic Lawson:
Now, you may be wondering how come you may not have heard this story before, and why those Black Charlestonians never got the due for being the founders of Decoration Day, which has ultimately turned into Memorial Day? Well, that is because a year later in 1866, after the celebration in Charleston, there was a similar celebration in Waterloo, New York. The community was invited out to decorate the graves of civil war soldiers.
Dominic Lawson:
Businesses were also closed in remembrance. And then two years after that, John Logan who served as a Union general, creates an organization for civil war veterans and calls for a national day of remembrance for the fallen of the civil war. So this ultimately leads to 1966 when the federal government declared the official birthplace of Memorial Day as Waterloo, New York. And then when it becomes a national holiday in 1971, John Logan as founder of Memorial Day.
Dominic Lawson:
And to completely put the cherry on top of how messed up this really is, remember that race course where these Black Americans reburied those bodies to honor the sacrifice of the fallen, was renamed to Hampton Park after Wade Hampton. Now, if you're not familiar with South Carolina history, Wade Hampton was a general in the Confederacy and eventually became governor of South Carolina. He was also a known white supremacist.
Dominic Lawson:
We know this because he was the leader of the Redeemers, a Southern wing of the Democratic Party at the time that wanted to enforce white supremacy and to suppress the Black vote. The irony is that he would later appeal to Black South Carolinians to receive their vote when he ran for US Senate. Ah, man, don't you just love history? But why would you name a park after a jackass who's thrown off of a jackass is beyond me.
Dominic Lawson:
If you don't believe me, go look it up. That happened actually. Now, if you are new to the Black is America Podcast, just know that the point is not to vilify White people, it's to vilify known racists, but let me get back on task. But as you can see, there was a pretty decent job of the general public not knowing about any of this. Concerted effort or not, I'll let you be the judge, but as for David, he came across this information in one of the luckiest ways imaginable
David Blight:
A very lucky discovery in my research for my book on civil war memory. I found it in a collection at the Houghton Library at Harvard, the papers of an old Union veteran's organization. And there were boxes of this stuff. But I don't know, maybe in the second box I looked in, there was a file labeled "First Decoration Day" and I opened it. And here was a handwritten narrative on a piece of cardboard.
David Blight:
At the bottom of it, it had a name, Burwick, but it listed a date and the New York Herald Tribune. I went over and got out the New York Herald Tribune for that date in late spring of 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina. And whoever wrote that down, put the wrong date. I kept looking and kept looking and kept looking and kept looking, and finally, there it was, verbatim, that story. It was describing a parade held in Charleston, South Carolina on May 1st, 1865.
Dominic Lawson:
And since David's discoveries, there has been countless reenactments of this special ceremony that he has participated in to bring awareness of this historic moment. And in 2018, the state of South Carolina created a state marker to commemorate the occasion. The park is still called Hampton Park, but that's another fight for another day. More importantly, it shows that Black America has always had a deep affinity for those that have fought for this country.
Dominic Lawson:
It may be due in large part that many of us have put the uniform on in defense of it, but also, we understand the respect that the uniform and the flag commands. And yes, the United States has had many issues as it relates to racial equality, to which people who look like me have found themselves on the short end of the stick. But on that day, May 1st, 1865, those amazing Black Americans in Charleston, South Carolina wanted to honor those brave men that laid down their life so that a group of recently enslaved people could force their own path in the great experiment we know as America. And that is how Black America created Memorial Day.
Dominic Lawson:
The Black is America Podcast, a presentation of Owls Education, was created and is written, researched, and produced by me, Dominic Lawson. Executive producer, Kenda Lawson. Cover art was created by Alexandria Eddings of Art Life Connections.
Dominic Lawson:
Special thanks to David Blight, award-winning Sterling Professor of History and African American Studies at Yale University and his amazing discovery. This episode was also created due to sources from The Root, history.com, and Detroit ABC affiliate, WXYZ. Be sure to like, review, and subscribe to the Black is America Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts.
Dominic Lawson:
Also, let people know about the podcast. We would appreciate that very much. For a full transcript of this episode and other resources, go to www.blackisamericapodcast.com. There you can read our blog, leave us a review, or you can leave us a voicemail where you can ask a question or let us know what you think about the show that we may play in a later episode. You can also hit the donation button if you like what you heard, which helps us create more educational content like this. Finally, thank you so much for listening to the Black Is America Podcast where our history comes to life. Until next time.
Listen On
