Community Corner

The True Meaning of Memorial Day

The holiday that unofficially marks the onset of summer officially began after the Civil War.

Traditionally, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and a weekend full of parades, hamburgers and long road trips. Most importantly, it’s a day to remember those who have died in defense of this country, although the holiday had a rocky start in this regard.

Despite its status as a national holiday, the origins of what was once known as “Decoration Day” are shrouded in incomplete historical records and the division between the North and the South caused by the Civil War.

The original name for the holiday was inspired when women adorned Confederate soldiers’ gravestones after the Civil War ended, according to USMemorialDay.org. But tensions between the two regions caused the holiday to be stuck in limbo as a national celebration for more than 50 years

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Memorial Day was first proclaimed in 1868 when the graves of soldiers buried at Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C. were decorated. By 1890, all the northern states adopted the holiday, but the South refused and celebrated the dead in their own ways. That changed in the early 20th century, when the holiday was changed to also honor the people who died in World War I.

In 1971, the U.S. Congress officially made Memorial Day a federal holiday.

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Vacation time

The holiday is also a time to travel. More than 34.9 million people in the United States will travel to celebrate the start of summer, according to AAA Southern New England. Despite the high gas prices, that’s a .02 percent increase of 100,000 trips from last year.

AAA reports that six out of ten people say the cost of gas won’t impact their travel plans. Of those people who will have to modify travel plans, 70 percent plan to scale back their plans by saving more money or taking a shorter trip, according to AAA.

Here are some more stats: 

  • Approximately 30.9 million (88 percent) will travel by auto. Last year, 31 million drove. 
  • Approximately 2.93 million (8 percent) will fly, even though airfares are expected to increase 14 percent. That’s an 11.5 percent increase from last year
  • The remaining 4 percent plan to travel by other modes of transportation such as rail, bus or boat.


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