Veterans in the Cemetery

Decoration Day 1911

Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum

Rosehill gained prominence in the period after the Civil War, in part because of the efforts of the Rosehill Cemetery Company to create publicity.  Their prominence also increased because of a growing visitor ship.

With the Grand Army of the Republic’s establishment of Decoration Day in 1868, veterans of the Civil War began making an annual pilgrimage to Rosehill. 

Decoration Day 1911 featuring Battery A Chicago Light Artillery Monument

Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum

Late every May, between 1868 and the early 1900s, the Chicago Tribune featured articles with information on how and where Decoration Day would be celebrated.  Articles after the event reported on every aspect of the festivities - from parades to monument dedications, from distribution of flowers to picnics. 

Decoration Day 1916 featuing Our Heroes: Civil War Monument

Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum

Many of these articles appear prominently in the paper, suggesting the importance of the activities to the community.