The origins of Memorial Day. One of the earliest records of Memorial Day was a commemoration organized by formerly enslaved African Americans and some white missionaries on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina . This occurred at a former planters’ racetrack where Confederates held captured Union soldiers during the last year of the war. At least 257 prisoners died, many of disease, and were buried in unmarked graves, so black residents of Charleston decided to give them a proper burial. About 10,000 people, mostly black residents, participated in the May 1 tribute; a procession of friends and mourners as South Carolina and the United States never saw before. Thank you @cbsnews @cbsmornings @turayabk @nancychenpics for featuring my quilted portrait of the Harlem Hellfighters exhibiting at the Smithsonian American Art Museum @americanart Renwick Gallery.