Back in the spring of 1874 Laura Richardson looked at Knoxville gardens and the over 3000 Union soldiers buried in the local cemetery and realized she had big trouble in both places.
Richardson was in charge of the Women's Relief Corps and was responsible for placing flowers on the graves of veterans for Memorial Day. But flowers were scarce - an early warm spell had seen to that - and she had to think fast. Her solution, using small American flags in place of flowers, started a Memorial Day tradition.
A New England native, Richardson had lived in Knoxville about six years and taught in the local schools. While taking a fortuitous walk in the business district she hit upon her grand idea. Looking for something colorful to use in place of flowers, Richardson noticed a large pile of American flags in a store window.
The flags would be a perfect substitute, she realized. They were as colorful as flowers and as a bonus, conveyed patriotism. The flags were soon fitted with small wooden staffs, and for the first time in the nation's history, the red, white and blue were used to decorate soldiers' graves.
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, takes place every year on the final Monday in May. The custom of decorating soldiers' graves with flowers has been around since before the Civil War. There is documentation that women in Savannah decorated graves in 1862. The cemetery dedication at Gettysburg was a memorial celebration for all the fallen soldiers. Historians in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania stake the claim that their city was the very first to decorate soldiers' graves and bills itself the Birthplace of Memorial Day.
But it was the schoolteacher in Knoxville, battling warm weather and a deadline, who began the tradition of placing American flags on solders' graves.