Talk:Decoration Day (tradition)

The implication here in Wikipedia that Decoration Day was only celebrated in "Southern Appalachia" is laughable, and wrong. It was widespread throughout the U. S. South among whites. I can't say for sure when the custom started, as I never heard anyone talk about that.

I grew up in rural West TN in the 1950's and 1960's, and Decoration Day always occurred on the 3rd Sunday in May--and NOT on the last Monday in May like Memorial Day does. Hundreds of people would congregate at my family's main cemetery on the third Sunday in May. The advent of Memorial Day as a federal holiday never did anything to curtail this practice. The third Sunday in May is when the majority of cultivated flowers in people's yards were in bloom, in particular both roses and peonies, and families would make (at home) large vases of these and decorate the graves of all the relatives buried there whom they remembered. Graves of veterans also got small American flags planted on them. Then, a huge pot-luck social was held at the cemetery for the rest of the day.

Memorial Day was also celebrated in honor of all veterans, but more by flying the flag and gathering with family--and not necessarily with a trip to the cemetery.

Often, someone in the family would visit the cemetery a few days before the third Sunday in May to clean up any graves, removing old flower containers and faded flags.

What finally happened with Decoration Day is that the generations of people who celebrated it started dying off. Now, it is much dwindled. But if you go to that cemetery in May, you will still see the recent efforts.Harborsparrow (talk) 13:26, 20 June 2021 (UTC)Reply

The result of the move request was: Moved per consensus. (non-admin closure) Spekkios (talk) 03:38, 6 January 2022 (UTC)Reply

Decoration Day (Appalachia and Liberia) → Decoration Day (tradition) – This seems to be a very nonstandard disambiguation (as well as somewhat misleading, as the tradition is/was more widespread in USA than just Appalachia). Using the disambiguator of (tradition) should be enough to distinguish between this and the formal holiday. Hog Farm _Talk 01:08, 20 December 2021 (UTC) — Relisting. — Shibbolethink ^{(♔ ♕)} 13:45, 27 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

Note: WikiProject Holidays has been notified of this discussion. — Shibbolethink ^{(♔ ♕)} 13:45, 27 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

Note: WikiProject Festivals has been notified of this discussion. — Shibbolethink ^{(♔ ♕)} 13:45, 27 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

• Support. The article scope as indicated by the current content is already broader than the current title. The article should be refactored to be more consistent in this, but the proposed title already better describes the scope. Andrewa (talk) 17:08, 27 December 2021 (UTC)Reply
• Support some move much of the Appalachia stuff should be deleted. Beyond that, we have two topics here: a Public Holiday in Liberia called "Decoration Day", and the general concept of a decoration day as a memorial holiday. (The fact that Memorial Day (United States) used to be called "Decoration Day" is in this article but blurred over.) I support Decoration day (tradition) the most, but literally any title that removes the current disambiguation is an improvement. User:力 (powera, π, ν) 20:05, 27 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

  I would just like to add belatedly, that Decoration Day traditions are quite distinct from Memorial Day, and is a ongoing vital tradition in Appalachia. As well as Liberia. I haven't seen much evidence it's a tradition in other regions, but there may be a lack of scholarship and documentation rather than lack of a ongoing Decoration Day tradition MarkWKidd (talk) 22:38, 20 May 2022 (UTC)Reply

• Support I like the idea of a split, and I like "(tradition)" for its wording. Rhetoricalray (talk) 01:01, 29 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.