What Memorial Day Was Meant to Be

Memorial Day is typically considered the unofficial beginning of summer. And we inaugurate the season with barbecues, beach parties, blockbuster films, and bargain hunting. But that’s not how Memorial Day was envisioned by the Southern women who honored the fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Joining The Takeaway to talk about the origins of Memorial Day and how the meaning has morphed over the decades is Caroline Janney. She is an assistant professor of history at Purdue University and the author of Burying the Dead but Not the Past: Ladies’ Memorial Associations and the Lost Cause (Civil War America).