A Memorial Day commemoration organized less than a month after the Civil war ended. On May 1, 1865 in Charleston South Carolina a Memorial Day Commemoration was created by a group of newly freed slaves. This celebration was in honor of 257 dead Union soldiers who had been placed in a mass grave in a confederate prison camp. The bodies of the dead soldiers were dug up and given a proper burial. After the bodies were buried, a parade was held in honor of the soldiers as a form of gratitude in celebration for the slaves newly attained freedom.
Memorial Day