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FACT BRIEF

Did formerly enslaved Black people organize one of the earliest Memorial Day ceremonies in the US?

By Christiana Dillard
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YES

Evidence suggests that they may have: A celebration on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, S.C., is considered one of the first mass memorializations of fallen soldiers in the country. The celebration was organized and attended by formerly enslaved Black people who, along with white sympathizers, honored Union soldiers who died in the American Civil War.

Although historians have yet to confirm which Memorial Day celebration was actually the first, the May 1, 1865, celebration in Charleston was certainly one of the first, occurring just weeks after the end of the Civil War.

The celebration was held at a site where Confederate forces had kept Union soldiers imprisoned. More than 250 Union soldiers died in the outdoor prison from disease and were buried in a mass grave behind the facility. Dozens of Black residents in Charleston decided to give those soldiers a proper burial. 

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
David W. Blight Forgetting Why We Remember
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.