Event
“The Reveille of Freedom”: Decoration Day in the Age of Reconstruction
Fee:
Free.Location: LAT/LONG: 32.437275, -80.671422
The "Learning Center 913" West Street, Beaufort SC
Dates & Times
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Type of Event
Description
“Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms.” – General John Logan, 1868
When US General John Logan issued orders in 1868 formalizing the establishment of Decoration Day in 1868, he tapped into an existing movement of mourning. Throughout the South, Black Americans had already begun gathering at national cemeteries to celebrate, as one reporter to a cemetery in Georgia remarked, “those through whose sufferings and death a race rose up from chains.”
On May 1, 1865, Black Charlestonians decorated the graves on Union prisoners in in the city, in an act that some historians argue was the 1st Memorial Day.
Join us on the 160th Anniversary of the "Martyrs of the Racecourse" for a special presentation by Park Ranger Chris Barr on Thursday May 1 at 6pm at the "Learning Center" at 913 West Street in downtown Beaufort to learn about the Reconstruction era roots of Memorial Day in communities like Beaufort.
Please note that parking is limited at this location, and we encourage carpooling.
Reservation or Registration: No
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