From Jeanne Ives Sunday email:
.Three years after the bloody Civil War that ended slavery, General John A. Logan – a Murphysboro native – planned a day that would honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Logan selected May 30th.
Why this date? General Logan knew that by the end of May, flowers would be in full bloom in every state: Union AND Confederate.
Perfect for floral displays in cemeteries!
In addition, Logan – wounded in action and National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic – believed the date ideal because it didn’t coincide with the anniversary of any battles in the nation’s first 90 years.
Logan issued General Order No. 11 in early 1868. His goal? To set aside a day for those who answered – in his words -“…the reveille of freedom to a race in chains.”
Logan’s patriotic holiday has been cherished for over 150 years. In 1971, Congress designated Memorial Day as part of the three-day weekend craze.
In 21st-century revisionist history books, John Logan has probably been forgotten.
Let’s not forget that Mayor Lori Lightfoot put Logan’s statue on the chopping block.
Following the riot around the Christopher Columbus statue in the Summer of Love 2020. Mayor Lightfoot launched a review of public monuments as part of “a racial healing and historical reckoning project.”
On the list of monuments to review was General John A. Logan’s statue.
Lightfoot wanted to cancel the man who fought and later memorialized thousands who gave their lives so that all men and women of all colors could be free.
It’s Lightfoot who is forgotten…
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Congressman Robert B. McClory is the man who sponsored the legislation to make Memorial Day a three-Day holidayHwhether May 30th was part of it or not.
The law he sponsored literally changed the colander.
But his law only affected the Federal holiday.
A separate bill was introduced in the Illlinois House.
It passed, but not with my vote..
