Dave Severin (R-Benton) takes the oath of office during the 102 General Assembly on Jan. 13. | Photo Courtesy of Dave Severin
Dave Severin (R-Benton) takes the oath of office during the 102 General Assembly on Jan. 13. | Photo Courtesy of Dave Severin
Over the years, Memorial Day has grown to incorporate BBQs as part of the celebration of honoring fallen veterans.
“While many Illinoisans will enjoy time off relaxing, cleaning up the yard, hosting barbecues, swimming, fishing, going to ball games, and hitting the road to visit loved ones, many others will be taking time to commemorate Memorial Day, a day that means so much to Gold Star families and our entire nation and her free citizens,” Representative Dave Severin wrote on Facebook.
What we now know as Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. The first Decoration Day occurred on May 30, 1868, a few years after the end of the Civil War. History.com wrote that the day was created “by proclamation of Major General John Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance is held to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs wrote Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971.
“Although not known by many today, the early evolution of the Memorial Day holiday was a manifestation of Lincoln’s hope for reconciliation between North and South,” the late Richard Gardiner, who was a professor at the Columbia State University, wrote in a column in the Kansas Reflector.
Logan was an Illinois resident. A celebration in Carbondale, on April 29, 1866, is thought to be the first community-wide observance of Decoration Day, Journal Courier reported, and 212 veterans from the area participated.
Gardiner added in his column that Francis Miles Finch, a Northern judge, academic and poet, wrote a poem titled “The Blue and the Gray” that showed forgiveness to the South during the Civil War. The professor added Logan knew of Finch’s sentimentalism.
“Almost immediately, the poem circulated across America in books, magazines and newspapers,” Gardiner continued in the column. “By the end of the 19th century, school children everywhere were required to memorize Finch’s poem. The ubiquitous publication of Finch’s rhyme meant that by the end of 1867, the southern Memorial Day holiday was a familiar phenomenon throughout the entire, and recently reunited, country.”
There were a variety of parades and events to mark Memorial Day 2022 across the state.
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