One of the most enduring traditions of Memorial Day is the decoration of the graves of fallen service members with such items as flowers and American flags. This annual day of commemoration was at one time referred to as Decoration Day because of this practice.
My grandmother grew up in the deep South, where tradition held that you took an annual pilgrimage to your family cemetery, which in their case required a road trip to southern Arkansas, to clean and decorate the graves of all of your ancestors. This tradition may have inspired the post Civil War movement to decorate the graves of those who died in military service. While the holiday was referred to as both Decoration Day and Memorial Day for decades, Memorial Day was declared a federal holiday in 1971 and is now celebrated on the last Monday in May.
Gestures of respect and commemoration on Memorial Day are made in acts both small and large, personal and ceremonial. Gratitude for the sacrifice and service of millions of American men and women takes place in all parts of the world, in countries where service members fell fighting as well as at memorials in the United States. Journey to the graves in Arlington National Cemetery, in small rural cemeteries and in foreign lands, and travel to battlefields and memorials where many are named and remembered through the images below.
Scenes in Arlington Cemetery. Decorating the graves of those who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War. Photo, National Photo Company Collection, 1929 May 30. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c00028Grave decorated on Decoration Day. Photo by Arthur S. Siegel, 1943 June. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d30357In far off Serbia. Graves of Americans who died while carrying on relief work of America were not forgotten on Decoration Day even in far away Serbia. This picture shows the grave of Capt. Harold V. Aupperle of the American Red Cross, formerly of Junction City, Colorado, who died at Nova Varosh, Serbia on June 14, 1919, while engaged in relieving the suffering of that country. Red Cross workers and Serbians united in placing flowers and flags upon the grave. Photo, American National Red Cross photograph collection, 28 August 1920 [date received]. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/anrc.11898Memorial Day, Arlington, 5/30/24. Photo, National Photo Company Collection, [19]24 May 30. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.11495Graves, U.S. NURSES HONOR JANE A. DELANO. Tributes to the memory of Jane A. Delano, head of the Nursing Service of the American Red Cross who died on duty in France in 1919, were laid on Memorial Day on the spot where she sleeps in Arlington. Miss Clara D. Noyes, National Director of the Red Cross Nursing Service (on left), with the wreath from the American Red Cross; Miss Ida Butler, Assistant National Director (on right), with the wreath from the Alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, of which Miss Delano had been Superintendent of Nurses, and Mrs. Annie Humphrey (centre), Director of Home Hygiene and Care of the Sick, Washington Division, Charter member of the Jane A. Delano Post No. 344 Nurses of the American Legion, New York, with the wreath from that Post. Photo, American National Red Cross Photograph Collection, 1924. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/anrc.15198Gold Star mothers at Tomb of Unknown Soldier. Among the thousands of tribute paid at the Tomb of the Unknown Solder in Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Day, none was more touching than the placing of a wreath by the Country’s Gold Star Mothers. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1927 May 30. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.34485Heroes of battle of Gettysburg paid tribute by surviving brothers-in-arms. Washington, D.C., May 30, Although there are only a few of the boys in blue and gray left, two of them were strong enough today, Memorial Day, to drop flowers from the air on the Gettysburg battlefield to honor their comrades who lost their lives in this historic battle of the Civil War. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1938 May 30. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hec.24682Memorial Day, Vietnam Memorial, Washington, D.C. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2006 May 29. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.04895
Kristi Finefield is a reference librarian in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress. Her love of libraries plus a long held interest in photography and the visual arts has made P&P her perfect home since 1999. Her experience with the Library’s photostream in Flickr kindled an interest in writing about pictures and reaching out to researchers. Kristi holds a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., and a Master's in Library Science from Catholic University. Her work with an architectural firm in Richmond, Va., still comes in handy given the many architecture, design, and engineering collections in P&P.
![<b>In far off Serbia. Graves of Americans who died while carrying on relief work of America were not forgotten on Decoration Day even in far away Serbia. This picture shows the grave of Capt. Harold V. Aupperle of the American Red Cross, formerly of Junction City, Colorado, who died at Nova Varosh, Serbia on June 14, 1919, while engaged in relieving the suffering of that country. Red Cross workers and Serbians united in placing flowers and flags upon the grave.</b> Photo, American National Red Cross photograph collection, 28 August 1920 [date received]. //<a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/anrc.11898">hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/anrc.11898</a>](https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1622428075510.jpeg)
![<b>Memorial Day, Arlington, 5/30/24. </b>Photo, National Photo Company Collection, [19]24 May 30. //<a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.11495">hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.11495</a>](https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/5/1622428318802.jpeg)
