Memorial Day gets marketed like a party, but the real story is heavier and more human. We’re joined by Allison Finkelstein, Senior Historian at Arlington National Cemetery, to trace Memorial Day back to its first name: Decoration Day. From Arlington’s creation during the Civil War to the first official annual observance of National Decoration Day in 1868, we talk about how public rituals, flowers, and community grief shaped the way the United States remembers its war dead.

Then we slow down and look at remembrance, one name at a time. Allison shares the story of Private Sylvester Ducket of the 369th Infantry, the Harlem Hellfighters, and how a headstone can open a door into archives, family choices, and long-delayed recognition. We also discuss Anita Campos, a Spanish-American War nurse contracted before the Army Nurse Corps existed, and what her burial at Arlington says about the service that the government didn’t always fully name or reward. Along the way, we unpack Arlington’s history of segregation by race and rank and why the cemetery’s landscape still helps us see that past.

We also get practical about what Memorial Day can look like now: Arlington’s Flags In tradition, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Flowers of Remembrance, which invites the public to place a flower in a powerful act of collective memory. If you teach civics or history, Alison explains free educational resources from Arlington National Cemetery, including lesson plans, primary source activities, and upcoming virtual visits that bring the site to your classroom.

Subscribe for more conversations that make civics feel real, share this with a teacher or veteran in your life, and leave a review so more listeners can find us. What’s one way you plan to observe Memorial Day with intention this year?

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