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History of Memorial Day

This blog post first appeared last year. It’s the text of remarks I delivered at the city of Lowell Memorial Day observance at Lowell City Hall on Saturday, May 31, 2025.

History of Memorial Day

By Richard Howe

Good afternoon. My topic today is the history of Memorial Day. To understand that, you must begin with the American Civil War. From 1861 to 1865, more than 700,000 people died while serving in the military making it the costliest war in the history of the United States. Here in Lowell, of a population of 36,000, more than 5,000 served and 646 of them died. That’s the equivalent today of 2,100 deaths.

After the war, those who survived felt a duty to preserve the memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice. In 1868, General John Logan, the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic which was the largest veterans organization in the country, ordered that all GAR members should observe May 30 as Decoration Day, an occasion to place flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers. The size and influence of the Grand Army of the Republic caused Decoration Day to become a nationwide event. By 1890, all northern states had adopted it as an official holiday and in the aftermath of World War I it expanded to honor the dead of all American wars. In 1967, Congress changed the name of the holiday to Memorial Day and moved it from May 30 to the last Monday of the month.

One hundred years ago here in Lowell, Memorial Day began with veterans organizations attending church services then going to all the cemeteries in the city to place flowers on the graves of deceased comrades. All would then gather next door at Memorial Hall, now the Pollard Library, for lunch and socializing. At 3pm, everyone would walk to the South Common to form up for the big parade that at its peak involved 7500 marchers and 75,000 spectators.

While we are disappointed that parades like that have faded from our culture we should not grow discouraged. In his 1868 order that created the first Memorial Day, General Logan said there is no prescribed form the observance should take but that each community shall hold such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

In the spirit of General Logan, thank you all for being here today to fulfill the solemn trust of honoring those who have given their lives in service of our country.

Book Review: “Regret to Inform You”

Book Review: “Regret to Inform You”

Review by Leo Racicot

Book by Richard P. Howe Jr.

History, when viewed from a distance, is often a matter of staggering numbers, of sweeping troop movements. But in Regret to Inform You: The Human Cost of WWII in Lowell, Mass. Historian Richard Howe Jr. performs a staggering act of literary and historical restoration. He brings the global theater of conflict down to the neighborhoods, triple-deckers, the mill-heavy streets of Lowell, reminding us that global tragedies are always, at their core, heartbreakingly local.

The premise of the book is as straightforward as it is emotionally stunning: Howe seeks to return a face, a family, a specific story for every single one of the 441 sons and daughters of Lowell who left for World War II and never came home.

Rather than allowing these names to remain frozen in the bronze and stone of the city’s memorial tablets, Howe meticulously excavates the archives to reconstruct who these people actually were before they became casualties of war. He reawakens them, Lazarus-like.

By detailing their local backgrounds—where they went to school, which mill or neighborhood shop they worked in, and who was left waiting for them at home—the book moves compassionately beyond a simple military checklist.

Howe documents the precise circumstances of their deaths, spanning the entire timeline of American involvement in the war from the initial shock at Pearl Harbor to the final, horrifying days of Hiroshima.

With his characteristic meticulous eye for detail, the author ultimately creates a haunting echo of the sacrifices these courageous people made in the name of freedom. He resurrects them as real human beings, releasing them from the anonymity of being mere names on a monument. Thanks to his empathy, they live again.

The book’s end result presents the sheer weight of global war when viewed through a telescopic lens of personal loss, the devastating cost of so many lives lost but not lost in vain.

Regret to Inform You is an essential addition to the history of Lowell, a dense, reverent, incredibly important work of remembrance that ensures the names inscribed on the city’s monuments are remembered not just for how they died but for the community they lived in, the lives they left behind.

For anyone invested in military history, local heritage, or the quiet, stories of ordinary people caught in the grip of extraordinary times, this is a deeply rewarding read.

Seen & Heard: Vol. 20

Event: Lowell High Civics Day – On Monday, May 18, 2026, I attended the Lowell Public Schools Civics Fair at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium. More than 300 middle and high school students participated. Organized in teams of four, each group identified and researched a public policy issue then devised an advocacy strategy to implement their objectives. The four sessions I was briefed on were on improving literacy; making health care more affordable; educating younger students on resisting and reporting sexual assault; and improving the English Language Arts curriculum now in use in Lowell. All of the students I heard from were eight graders. They were uniformly impressive in their mastery of their topic and their ability to passionately convey their position on the issue.  

Book Review: “True Yankees: The South Seas and The Discovery of American Identity” by Dane Morrison (2014). When writing about the founding of Lowell, I always say that Francis Cabot Lowell and his colleagues made the money they invested in the new textile mills from trading with China and India. Beyond that simple assertion, I didn’t know much of the backstory, but I’m trying to learn more about it. In True Yankees, Dane Morrison explores how the “Great South Sea” trade (1784–1844) served as a crucible for American identity. Beginning with the Empress of China in 1785, these voyages transcended commerce; they functioned as vital evidence of a unified nation. Lacking the resources for a state-backed monopoly like the British East India Company, the U.S. relied on independent traders, several of whom published accounts of their journeys. This “China Trade” literature helped shape a national character of American exceptionalism. However, when European wars ended in 1815, the trading advantage held by the neutral Americans vanished and merchants sought other investment opportunities which is the origin of the funding that built the mills of Lowell, Massachusetts. 

Obituary: Philip Caputo – “Philip Caputo, 84, Author of Blistering Vietnam War Memoir, Dies” by Joseph Berger, New York Times, May 10, 2026. Having been born in 1958, I was too young to have served in Vietnam, too young to have even worried about it. But I was fully aware of the war. Each night’s TV news broadcast brought the war into our house. That exposure, and the continuing importance of the Vietnam War on our culture and politics, has made me a lifelong student of that conflict. 1977 was a remarkable year for Vietnam books: Michael Herr’s Dispatches and Philip Caputo’s A Rumor of War were both published that year. Despite having just graduated from high school, I bought both in hardcover and devoured each. Herr’s book still sits on my bookshelf, but I lost Caputo’s memoir although that had a bigger impact on me. 

Newspaper article: “Beijing Views Trump’s America As Sinking Empire” by Li Yuan, New York Times, May 14, 2026. This was truly an astonishing article to read. The reporter reviews various papers, speeches, and comments by Chinese leaders and academics over the past year. For most of its recent history, China has seen itself as striving to catch up to the west, but more recently, it sees itself as a superpower poised to surpass it. “Chinese nationalists and state-linked commentators say they have Mr. Trump to thank.” Whether it’s January 6th, violent immigration raids in Minnesota, erratic decisions on tariffs, irrational hostility towards longtime allies, and most recently, the war of choice against Iran, Trump has repeatedly done things, in the eyes of the Chinese, that have weakened America, all to the benefit of China. 

Podcast: “The History Wars and America at 250” New Yorker Radio Hour podcast. Historian Jill Lepore interviews fellow historians Beverly Gage and Jelani Cobb about the semisesquicentennial of the United States. Both Lepore and Cobb are staff writers at the New Yorker. Lepore teaches at Harvard and won a Pulitzer Prize for her book on the US Constitution. Cobb is the dean at the Columbia School of Journalism. Gage teaches at Yale, won the Pulitzer for her biography of J. Edgar Hoover, and is just out with a new book, This Land is Your Land: A Road Trip Through American History. Much of the podcast compared the feeling in the country about the 250th anniversary to the experience 50 years ago at the 200th anniversary. They agreed that each generation often feels that their time is the worst of all, but if you look objectively at the past, things have always been bad (and good). But they also agreed that there is something different about this era, mostly because the Trump regime is promoting a story of US history that excludes so many.

Motors and Maintenance

Motors and Maintenance – (PIP #106)

By Louise Peloquin

 Here are two articles with  “Peek into the Past” #105 topics. (1)

The first announces an invention claimed to radically transform engine efficiency.

The second covers a road maintenance question followed by an editorial on the issue.

Inventions and infrastructure will always be topical.

L’Etoile – Front page January 12, 1926

A Fabulous Invention

     Rock Island, IL., 12 – Yesterday, C.C. Herman and J.F. Herman announced that they had invented a means to eliminate lethal carbon monoxide gas, render transmission gearboxes useless, do away with carburetors and finally, thoroughly revolutionize the functioning of automobile or airplane internal combustion engines.

     They claimed that their invention will increase gasoline energy efficiency by 200% and give engines 45% more power whilst radically reducing oil dilution.

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L’Etoile – January 14, 1926

REPAIRS TO THE BOULEVARD FOR THE CENTENNIAL

__________

A Lowell delegation supports, before the Public Works Commission, Mr. Achin’s project for State maintenance of  Pawtucket Boulevard.

__________

WHAT THE COMMISSION WILL DO IS STILL UNKNOWN

__________

     State House, Boston, 14. – Yesterday, Mayor Donovan, along with a delegation of Lowell civil servants and representatives, stood before Public Works Commission members to support a call, proposed by Representative Henri Achin Jr.,  for the State to take charge of Pawtucket Boulevard from Varnum Avenue to the Lowell aqueduct.

     The Lowell delegation gave a very good impression and Commissioner William F. Williams, president of the Public Works Department, had to admit that he truly found no reason why the Committee for Main Roads had omitted including Pawtucket Boulevard as a State thoroughfare.

     First to take the floor, Representative Achin stated that the segment in question is mentioned in every report and is, without a doubt, to be included as a State road. It should therefore be maintained by the State.

     “It is one of the most picturesque thoroughfares along the Merrimack river” specified Mr. Achin. “This road is traveled by hundreds of thousands of tourists. There are hardly any houses along the two-mile segment. The boulevard is an ‘orphan’ located on the site of an old race track acquired by the city. It is horrible to see it in its present state.”

     City engineer Stephen Kearney then provided technical details on the present condition of Pawtucket Boulevard and spoke about Lowell’s roadworks in general. He agreed that the boulevard, a main artery from one city to another, should be maintained by the State. Mr. Kearney pointed out that the city spends $360,000 a year on its roads, a fortune.

     Commissioner Williams responded that the sum was not extraordinary for a large city. Mr. Kearney persisted in disagreeing.

     Commissioner Williams remarked that the Lowell delegates were possibly right but added that many similar situations remain in many other areas of the State. The Public Works Department receives a set annual sum to maintain the 1,500 miles of State routes including certain Lowell roads, he declared.

     City solicitor Reynold, Mayor Donovan’s spokesperson, then explained how Lowell was preparing a link at Fletcher Street between roads coming from the north and the south. This will cost a great deal. Pawtucket Boulevard is virtually outside of the city and mainly used by tourists or motorists passing through. Additionally, it is situated in a picturesque area and the State should be proud to transform it into a principal State artery.

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L’Etoile – Editorial, January 8, 1926

URGENT WORK

     By submitting the question of Pawtucket Boulevard to the Public Works Commission, Representative Henri Achin, with reason, calls public attention to a state of affairs which should not exist in a city which prides itself in being progressive.

     The section of the boulevard which extends from Varnum Avenue to the aqueduct buildings has been, for many years, in terrible condition and city officials do not seem to want to do anything to rehabilitate it. Although motorists obliged to pass through this area grumble about the defects in the road, the council remains deaf to their valid recriminations. Mr. Achin did not fail to point out to Commission members that Pawtucket Boulevard follows an ideal scenic route and that something should be done to prevent its natural beauty from being irremediably spoiled by the bumpy road to access it.

     The Lowell Representative would like the State Department of Public Works to take charge of the reconstruction and maintenance of this section of the road as it does for the others leading to the aqueduct buildings at Tyngsboro bridge. Certain members of the Commission point out that it is against State policy to take charge of road construction or maintenance within city limits. Mr. Achin affirms that Lowell hardly receives any revenue from this part of the city and that consequently, his request would not constitute a precedent by which other cities could claim State coverage for roadwork.

     Representative Achin’s suggestion must be discussed once again during next Wednesday’s meeting. Hopefully, measures will be adopted to finally give satisfaction to the many motorists who take Pawtucket Boulevard every day, especially during the summer.

     However, while waiting, maybe it would not be a bad idea for the authorities to examine the question in case the Public Works Commission refuses to act as suggested by Mr. Achin. (2)

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1. “Wheels for Lowellians” posted on May 5, 2026.                                                     https://richardhowe.com/2026/05/05/wheels-for-lowellians/
2. Translations by Louise Peloquin.