The Origins of Memorial Day

The Origins of Memorial Day Memorial Day is celebrated in the United States each May to remember and honor military men and women who died while serving in the nations armed forces. This differs from Veterans Day, which is celebrated in September to honor everyone who served in the U.S. military, whether or not they died in service. From 1868 through 1970, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30th each year. Since then, the official national Memorial Day holiday is traditionally celebrated on the last Monday in May. Origins of Memorial Day On May 5, 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)- an organization of former Union soldiers and sailors- established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The cemetery already held the remains of 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead.  Presided over by General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and other Washington officials, the Memorial Day ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of General Robert E. Lee. After speeches, children from the Soldiers and Sailors Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns. Was Decoration Day Really the First Memorial Day? While General John A. Logan credited his wife, Mary Logan, with the suggestion for the Decoration Day commemoration, local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead had previously taken place. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Mississippi, on April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.Today cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day between 1864 and 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Georgia, claim the title, as well as Richmond, Virginia. The village of Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, also claims to be the first. A stone in a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, the wartime home of General Logan, carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on Ap ril 29, 1866. Approximately twenty-five places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried. Official Birthplace Declared In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, the birthplace of Memorial Day. A local ceremony held on May 5, 1866, was reported to have honored local soldiers and sailors who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-mast. Supporters of Waterloos claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one-time events. Confederate Memorial Day Many Southern states also have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day the last Monday of April, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, and Georgia on April 26th. North and South Carolina observe it May 10th, Louisiana on June 3rd and Tennessee calls that date Confederate Decoration Day. Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day January 19th and Virginia calls the last Monday in May Confederate Memorial Day. Learn the Stories of Your Military Ancestors Memorial Day began as a tribute to Civil War dead, and it was not until after World War I that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars.  The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nations wars: Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men. What a fitting reminder to all of us to learn about and tell the stories of our military ancestors who died in service. How to Trace Your U.S. Military AncestorsAre You Descended from a Civil War Soldier?Discover Your American WWI AncestorsResearch Your Revolutionary War Patriot AncestorSymbols, Acronyms Abbreviations Found on Military Tombstones Portions of the above article courtesy of the U.S. Veterans Administration

Overview and History of UNESCO

Overview and History of UNESCO The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is an agency within the United Nations that is responsible for promoting peace, social justice, human rights and international security through international cooperation on educational, science, and cultural programs. It is based in Paris, France and has over 50 field offices located around the world. Today, UNESCO has five major themes to its programs which include 1) education, 2) natural sciences, 3) social and human sciences, 4) culture, and 5) communication and information. UNESCO is also actively working to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals but it is focused on achieving the goals of significantly reducing extreme poverty in developing countries, developing a program for universal primary education in all countries, eliminating gender inequalities in primary and secondary education, promoting sustainable development and reducing the loss of environmental resources. History of UNESCO When that conference began in 1945 (shortly after the United Nations officially came into existence), there were 44 participating countries whose delegates decided to create an organization that would promote a culture of peace, establish an intellectual and moral solidarity of mankind, and prevent another world war. When the conference ended on November 16, 1945, 37 of the participating countries founded UNESCO with the Constitution of UNESCO. After ratification, the Constitution of UNESCO came into effect on November 4, 1946. The first official General Conference of UNESCO was then held in Paris from November 19-December 10, 1946 with representatives from 30 countries. Since then, UNESCO has grown in significance across the globe and its number of participating member states has grown to 195 (there are 193 members of the United Nations but the Cook Islands and Palestine are also members of UNESCO). UNESCOs Structure Today The Director General is another branch of UNESCO and is the executive head of the organization. Since UNESCOs founding in 1946, there have been 11 Director Generals. The first was the United Kingdoms Julian Huxley who served from 1946-1948. The current Director General is Audrey Azoulay from France. She has been serving since 2017. The final branch of UNESCO is the Secretariat. It is composed of civil servants who are based in UNESCOs Paris headquarters and also in field offices around the world. The Secretariat is responsible for implementing UNESCOs policies, maintaining outside relationships, and strengthening UNESCOs presence and actions worldwide. Themes of UNESCO Natural sciences and the management of Earths resources is another UNESCO field of action. It includes protecting water and water quality, the ocean, and promoting science and engineering technologies to achieve sustainable development in developed and developing countries, resource management and disaster preparedness. Social and human sciences is another UNESCO theme and promotes basic human rights and focuses on global issues like fighting discrimination and racism. Culture is another closely related UNESCO theme that promotes cultural acceptance but also the maintenance of cultural diversity, as well as the protection of cultural heritage. Finally, communication and information is the last UNESCO theme. It includes the free flow of ideas by word and image to build a worldwide community of shared knowledge and empower people through access to information and knowledge about different subject areas. In addition to the five themes, UNESCO also has special themes or fields of action that require a multidisciplinary approach as they do not fit into one distinct theme. Some of these fields include Climate Change, Gender Equality, Languages and Multilingualism, and Education for Sustainable Development. One of UNESCOs most famous special themes is its World Heritage Center which identifies cultural, natural and mixed sites to be protected all over the world in an effort to promote the maintenance of cultural, historic and/or natural heritage in those places for others to see. These include the Pyramids of Giza, Australias Great Barrier Reef and Perus Machu Picchu. To learn more about UNESCO visit its official website at www.unesco.org.