Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Who Invented Memorial Day?

Memorial Day is just around the corner. How will you spend your three-day weekend?

Here's a post from Pamela Hobart Carter at No Talking Dogs Press about the history of the holiday. For those of you who are teachers, I know you'll find some curriculum ideas here. I know I do. Thanks, Pam!
Who Invented Memorial Day, 
and What Does Memorial Day Mean Now?

The post office closes. Banks close. Schools take the day off. Stores mount sales. It is a national holiday.

On Memorial Day most families relax, maybe out of town because Memorial Day always falls on a Monday and gives us a three-day weekend. Most Americans plan for Memorial Day as they do for any vacation days. They plan for fun. They plan to catch up on household chores. They plan get-togethers with friends. They plan trips. Most do not plan visits to a cemetery to place flowers on a grave.

This was once the practice. Our country shifted course in 1971 when Congress’s 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act became the law and moved four national holidays to Mondays to create three-day weekends. Read More...

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