The real first Memorial Day: A holiday founded by formerly enslaved Black Americans

by Dave Lucas

Tue, May 4th 2021, 5:07 PM UTC

{p}The first-ever Memorial Day celebration happened just about a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. (Library of Congress photo){br}{/p}

{p}The first-ever Memorial Day celebration happened just about a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. (Library of Congress photo){br}{/p}

{p}A sign describing the circumstances of the first Memorial Day in Charleston, South Carolina. (7News){br}{/p}

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The first-ever Memorial Day celebration happened just about a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. (Library of Congress photo)

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