A vintage postcard for Memorial Day.
Memorial Day is one of America’s favorite federal holidays and it is also a very emotional one. It happily marks the start of the summer season, yet the somber purpose of the day is to remember all who have died while serving in the country’s armed forces. To date, close to 1.3 million Americans have died in service, with almost half the fatalities occurring during the Civil War.
The day was officially established in 1868 as Decoration Day, because decorating the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers was an ancient custom. The date was set as May 30, which had no particular significance; it reportedly was chosen to coincide with the blooming of flowers.
In the 1880s, it began to be known as Memorial Day. It was not until 1971 that the federal government implemented a national holiday on the last Monday in May, intentionally to give a three-day week-end at the beginning of summer.
The local Memorial Day Parade is a neighborhood tradition that dates back 90 years. It is one of the oldest Memorial Day events in Chicago. The parade was started by the Beverly Hills Post 407 of the American Legion, which was formed in 1919 for those who served in World War I.
Beginning in 1923, Post 407 paraded to local cemeteries on Memorial Day to decorate graves. Then in 1926, the Legion invited the community to participate. Some of the groups who marched that first year still participate – the Dewalt Mechlin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Reserved Officers Training Corps from Morgan Park High School, and local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts troops.