Granville Historical Society to host program on evolution of Memorial Day celebrations

Join the Granville Historical Society on May 23 for an evening with the society's own Charles Peterson to learn the evolution of Memorial Day celebrations in Granville, from it's beginning in 1873.

The program, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Robinson Research Center at the historical society's location at 115 E. Broadway, is inspired by the latest book in the society's pocket history series. The book will be available for sale during the event, and Peterson, retired editor of The Granville Sentinel and vice president of the Society’s Board of Managers, will be signing copies.

As previously reported, Entitled "Memorial Day in Granville: 1873 to 1936," the book the details approximately the first five decades and the origins of the community’s Memorial Day ceremony, starting with the year of the first observance and ending with the year Granville’s last two Civil War veterans died.

Granville’s first Memorial Day observance, known early on as Decoration Day, was held in 1873, led by veterans of the Civil War who continued to sponsor the event until 1926.

The book quotes several keynote speeches and other addresses given during the 1880s, 1890s and 1930s in particular, and describes how a parade marched from downtown to Maple Grove Cemetery as part of the program, much the same way it does today.

Information submitted bythe Granville Historical Society.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Program to cover evolution of Granville's Memorial Day celebrations