Decoration Day!

On Memorial Day, we remember and honor the military personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the United States Armed Forces. But did you know that the idea of Memorial Day dates back to just after the Civil War and that it was originally known as Decoration Day?

Learn more about Decoration Day here, on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and here, on the Library of Congress website. Discover how over time it became the federal holiday we know today as Memorial Day.

Best wishes to everyone,

Jessica Vogelgesang
Communications Director

Decoration Day Parade

Decoration Day parade float ca. 1918
This photograph can be found in our online database as part
of the South Windsor Historical Society Photograph Collection.
Object ID number SWHS2016.27

This black and white photograph of a Decoration Day parade float shows women in the back of a truck that is decorated with flags and vegetation. The women, most of whom are wearing white hats on their heads, are seated on chairs in the back of the truck, and there are two men dressed in black standing on the ground. The women wearing white may be World War I nurses. The truck has American flags adorning the wheels and head lamps, as well as other surfaces. There is a tobacco shed in the background. This may have been taken near Hills Grove on Sullivan Avenue in South Windsor, which is where the Decoration Day parades ended at that time.

Want to learn more about South Windsor history?

Images of America: South Windsor is on sale in 2020 for $18.45 to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of South Windsor (1845-2020). Plenty of inventory is available at The Wood, and drop-off in South Windsor is free while The Wood continues to be closed due to coronavirus.

Do you recognize what the image on the cover is of?

More information here!