Did formerly enslaved Black people organize one of the earliest Memorial Day ceremonies in the US?

Evidence suggests that they may have: A celebration on May 1, 1865, in Charleston, S.C., is considered one of the first mass memorializations of fallen soldiers in the country. The celebration was organized and attended by formerly enslaved Black people who, along with white sympathizers, honored Union soldiers who died in the American Civil War.

Although historians have yet to confirm which Memorial Day celebration was actually the first, the May 1, 1865, celebration in Charleston was certainly one of the first, occurring just weeks after the end of the Civil War.

The celebration was held at a site where Confederate forces had kept Union soldiers imprisoned. More than 250 Union soldiers died in the outdoor prison from disease and were buried in a mass grave behind the facility. Dozens of Black residents in Charleston decided to give those soldiers a proper burial.