When these photos from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York were taken at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery at the end of May in 1899, Memorial Day didn’t exist.
“Decoration Day,” however, was an established holiday celebrated every May 30. The idea was to visit the final resting places of thousands of Civil War dead and “decorate” their graves with flowers while clearing away dirt and debris.
The people visiting Green-Wood in the images are here on Decoration Day. This cemetery with its rolling hillsides and towering view of New York Harbor opened in 1838, and 30 years later became the burial site of thousands of Civil War soldiers.
The black and white images of crowds dressed in black and white mourning clothes lends a sense of solemnity. In the top photo, the caption states that “a band leads a group of visitors near the gate.”
In the second image, the caption mentions a parade—apparently of the uniformed men on the right. The third image shows a marching band as well.
Are the people in the photos visiting dead loved ones who fought in the Civil War? The captions don’t tell us the details, but the date of their visit offers a clue.
[Images: MCNY; photo 1: 93.1.1.17241; photo 2: 93.1.1.17242; photo 3: 93.1.1.3133]
Tags: Decoration Day Brooklyn 19th Century, Decoration Day Green-Wood Cemetery Brooklyn, Decoration Day in Brooklyn 1899, Decoration Day New York City, Green-Wood Cemetery Decoration day
Ephemeral New York 
May 27, 2024 at 7:19 am |
Those photos really “lend solemnity.” I think the people in them would be appalled at those who have picnics and parties in present-day Greenwood.
I am just old enough to remember when Memorial Day was celebrated on the 30th. (It became a Monday holiday when I was in junior high school.) There were still people who referred to it as “Decoration Day.” And many of them went to Greenwood and other necropoli to “decorate “ the graves of uncles and grandfathers who, in some cases, they never knew—and of brothers, cousins and other relatives who died in the Vietnam War that was raging at the time.
May 27, 2024 at 9:02 am |
My parents, born 1917 and 1922, always called it Decoration Day in the 1950s and beyond.
May 27, 2024 at 9:24 pm |
It would seem strange to most of us today to approach a stranger’s gravesite, but when the holiday originated there were so many graves of fallen soldiers, people felt they had a duty to maintain them and “decorate” them.
May 27, 2024 at 3:49 pm |
My wife, who died in September 2022, gets a visit from me virtually every day. I went the cemetery today and was disappointed to see only one other family visiting a grave. OK, so no one should be expected tp show up every day, but, Jeez, this is decoration day after all. Let’s change the name back so people get the massage..
May 27, 2024 at 10:14 pm |
Agree Mr. Kenyon. My Girl Scout troops are taught regularly to respect our Armed Forces. We try to always march in a Memorial Day Parade, etc. Do you remember the red “Poppy flowers” that were worn to commemorate this day? When I was a child the Poppies were made from a sort of shellac/red substance. The money to purchase them went to the Veterans, I think.