How Decoration Day became Memorial Day on the Delaware coast
Michael Morgan
In the beginning, Memorial Day ceremonies were public and massive, and involved all sectors of the community.
In 1868, Gen. John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (G. A. R.), an organization of Civil War veterans, designated May 30 “for the purpose of strewing flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.”
The next year, Wilmington held a “Decoration Day” ceremony that featured speeches, bands and a massive parade that included a large number veterans who had served during the Civil War.