Memorial Day was the first American holiday created to commemorate dead soldiers. The carnage of the Civil War demanded some ritual of remembrance, and the cemetery provided the place for the ritual of grave decoration. Women began to decorate soldiers' graves during the war, and this practice developed into Memorial Day and Confederate Memorial Day. In 1966 Congress officially recognized Waterloo, New York, as the town that held the first Memorial Day on May 5, 1866.

The annual holiday was created in 1868 by a Union veterans' organization, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Gen. John Logan, commander-in-chief of the GAR, designated May 30 as Memorial Day and ordered all posts to decorate the graves of their fallen comrades. The idea of Memorial Day spread quickly, as the GAR made the observance obligatory for each member and lobbied for official recognition of the holiday. Congress made Memorial Day...