Beschreibung:

Title: Decoration Day anti-slavery poem Author: Place: Publisher: Date: 1870s Description: “Decoration Day”, unsigned manuscript poem. 2pp. 8 x 12” “To day a nation mourns her sons / Who died for Liberty/ She mourns above those faithful ones/Whose blood set thousands free….A nation mourns today a head / Struck down by traitor’s hand / She mourns the Chief...who boldly broke the chain / ...which closed Columbia’s ears and eyes / To bondsman’s woes, to bondsman’s cries / Through Loyal Chief and Patriot Band /The blacks and whites now equal stand…./ Our martyred Lincoln quiet sleeps / Above his grave Columbia weeps / She weeps for him whose life was given / That bondsman's fetters might be riven…” Weeks after the end of the Civil War, Black residents of Charleston organized the first “memorial day” to decorate the unmarked graves of Union soldiers who had died there as prisoners of war. Three years later, Union veterans began a national “Decoration Day” observance as as tribute to troops who had died in combat who save the Union – and, incidentally, to put an end to slavery - though many in the north would not have shared the writer’s enthusiasm for the constitutional ideal of Black-white equality. After Southerners began their own “Memorial Day” for Confederate slain, this eventually became a national observance – and the original linkage of the memorial to African-American freedom was conveniently forgotten. Lot Amendments Condition: Very good. Item number: 271721a