(My grandmother served as a WAC and this post is in rememberance to her service.)
Excerpted from Women's E-News Service:
Just weeks after the Civil War ended in April 1865, Ellen Call Long organized a women's memorial society to reconcile embittered enemies. Usually named some variant of "women's relief society," groups sprang up in both the North and South that not only memorialized the dead, but also cared for the war's disabled and its widows and orphans. This was the official beginning of Memorial Day rememberances.
On June 22, 1865, these profound, forgiving and future-oriented resolutions were adopted. Their document read in part:
"The object of this meeting is to initiate a Memorial Association . . . that shall perpetuate in an honorable manner the memory of the gallant dead . . .
In no invidious spirit do we come; the political storm that shook our country to its foundation, we hope, is passed . . . We are done with the [Confederate] cause . . . and are willing to do all that women can do to stem the tide of bitterness . . . and angry feelings . . . We will practice and teach forbearance and patience, which must finally bring peace and justice . . . "
Leave a comment