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E. Van Altena, Military band marching in the Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade, 1895; V1972.1.1109 , Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection , ARC.201, Brooklyn Historical Society.Memorial Day is the official kick off of summer with beaches and barbecues, but it is also a time to honor those who served in the country’s armed forces. The earliest known celebrations of Memorial Day date back as far as 1865. New York City hosts parades in every borough to commemorate the day. Brooklyn’s annual Memorial Day Parade is over 148 years old, with its first in 1867. A Brooklyn Daily Eagle article from May of 1896, describes “Memorial Celebrations” as, “sacred in the calendar of patriotism, which was first called decoration day, but which now, more appropriately and poetically, is named after the memories of those heroes, ‘who died that this nation might live.’”
The photo of the week is a view of the military band marching along Bedford Avenue at Heyward Street, in the Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade in 1895. Traditionally, the parade marched along Bedford Avenue to Eastern Parkway and then to Grand Army Plaza. In the last twenty years, however, the parade has taken place in Bay Ridge. To learn more about the history of the parade, check out this website.
This photograph was taken by E. Van Altena and is part of the Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection. This collection comprises roughly 1,400 photographic prints taken by various photographers from around 1860 to 1920. The majority of the photographs in the collection depict views of Brooklyn and Suffolk County. To see more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery.
Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org
This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.
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