While several towns across America claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, the true origins of this national tradition are more complex and often overlooked. Historians have traced the earliest commemorations of Memorial Day to various Civil War-era tributes, including those by women in Columbus, Mississippi, in April 1866. However, the story of the freed slaves who organized an earlier, significant tribute in Charleston, South Carolina, remains largely underappreciated in the broader narrative of American history.
On May 1, 1865, just weeks after the Civil War ended, a group of newly freed African Americans, alongside white missionaries, gathered in Charleston to honor Union soldiers who had perished in Confederate captivity. The event took place at a former racetrack where Confederate forces had held captured Union soldiers during the final year of the war. Over 250 prisoners had died from disease and were buried in unmarked graves. The black residents of Charleston, determined to give the soldiers a proper burial, took it upon themselves to honor the fallen.
In the days leading up to the commemoration, approximately two dozen African Americans reorganized the graves, arranging them in neat rows and surrounding them with a 10-foot white fence. Above the graves, they constructed an archway bearing the inscription “Martyrs of the Race Course.” This effort set the stage for what would become a grand and moving tribute, attracting over 10,000 people, mostly black residents.
The May 1 tribute began early in the morning, with 3,000 black schoolchildren parading around the racetrack, holding roses and singing patriotic songs such as “John Brown’s Body.” They were followed by adults representing aid societies for freed men and women, alongside black pastors who led prayers and spirituals. The day’s events included sermons, picnics, and speeches from Union officers, missionaries, and black ministers. In the afternoon, black and white Union regiments marched around the newly marked graves, honoring the fallen with a military drill.
The tribute was reported by both the Charleston Daily Courier and the New York Tribune, which described the event as an unprecedented gathering of mourners and friends in South Carolina. Flowers blanketed the graves, and the air was filled with the scent of blooms and the emotions of those present. The tribute was a powerful moment of remembrance and consecration—a ritual founded by African Americans, marking the end of the Civil War.
Yet, despite its significance, the Charleston tribute faded from mainstream memory. According to historian David Blight, the story of the freed slaves’ commemoration was overshadowed by other narratives, particularly those more acceptable to white Americans. Blight, in his book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, argues that this early Memorial Day observance by African Americans was deliberately suppressed and largely forgotten over time.
This suppression is evident in historical records. About 50 years after the event, the United Daughters of the Confederacy inquired about the tribute, receiving a vague response that seemed to downplay or ignore the event entirely. Furthermore, later accounts diminished the contributions of the African American organizers, instead attributing the tribute to James Redpath, a white educator in the region. A 1937 book further distorted the history by changing the date of the tribute and downplaying the role of black Charlestonians.
The version of Memorial Day history that endured in popular memory instead focuses on an 1868 proclamation by General John A. Logan, the leader of a Union Army veterans group, calling for Americans to decorate soldiers’ graves on May 30. This event, held at Arlington National Cemetery, is often credited as the first official Memorial Day celebration, and Memorial Day was eventually recognized as a national holiday in 1889.
Over time, the original Charleston site, known as the Martyrs of the Race Course, was transformed. In the 1880s, the soldiers’ graves were reinterred at a national cemetery in Beaufort, South Carolina, and Hampton Park, named after Confederate General Wade Hampton, replaced the former racetrack.
The story of the freed slaves’ tribute on May 1, 1865, remains an underrepresented chapter in American history, emblematic of the broader struggle for African Americans to be fully recognized for their contributions to the nation. As historians like Blight have pointed out, the omission of this story reflects a larger pattern of marginalizing African American narratives in favor of more palatable versions of history. Yet, the Charleston tribute, led by newly freed African Americans, stands as a foundational moment in the history of Memorial Day and a powerful reminder of the sacrifices and contributions of those long overlooked.