Organization

Grand Army of the Republic

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Apr 16, 1885Old Soldiers Gather in VancouverVeterans of the Grand Army of the Republic meet in Washington Territory to honor General Grant and discuss the future of their department.Vancouver, WA
Apr 29, 1885A Warm Welcome in Tacoma for the GARSeattle veterans set sail for Tacoma to greet the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic as he tours the Pacific Coast.Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA
Oct 15, 1886Old Soldiers Fight Politically Motivated FiringA local group of veterans protests the sudden, unexplained removal of a fellow Union soldier from the Board of Examining Surgeons.Seattle, WA
May 31, 1888The President’s Silent Salute: McKinley and the Grand Army on Memorial DayAs thousands gathered in Seattle to honor Civil War dead, a minor diplomatic incident involving Mayor Hewitt revealed the deep fractures within the veteran community.Seattle, WA
Jul 7, 1888The Curious Case of a Seattle Man’s Electrical DelusionsA local veteran was apprehended for insanity, claiming his body was charged with electricity he caught while living in an asylum.Seattle, WA
May 27, 1889A City Pauses to Remember: Seattle's 1889 Memorial DayMayor Robert Moran calls on the frontier city to close its doors and honor the fallen as the Grand Army of the Republic marks the 21st anniversary of Decoration Day.Seattle, WA
Aug 1, 1889The Political Ousting of a PostmasterA Civil War veteran is pressured to resign his post so a G.A.R. member can take his place.Yakima, WA
Jan 18, 1891Old Soldiers Take the Floor: Seattle’s Post-Civil War Fraternal LifeIn January 1891, the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic and their families gathered in the Hinckley Block to install new officers, a ritual of civic pride and remembrance in a rapidly growing Seattle.Seattle, WA
Dec 18, 1891The Women of Olympia Furnish a Home Away from Home for Old SoldiersThe Geo. H. Thomas Woman’s Relief Corps outfits a cozy room at the Soldiers’ Home in Orting, down to a rug made from sixteen raccoon skins.Washington Soldiers’ Home, Orting, WA
Feb 15, 1892A New Home for the Grand Army of the RepublicVeterans of the Civil War plan a grand new headquarters in Olympia, complete with a public hall and space for other lodges.Olympia, WA
Mar 9, 1892The Ring Goes Down: Seattle Turns Out the MachineA Democratic sweep in Seattle's city election stuns the men who thought they owned the town — and the Grand Army veterans they snubbed do the electing.Seattle, WA
May 30, 1892The Minister and the SaloonA fiery Memorial Day sermon calls out the city's corrupt politics and the vice rampant in the very shadow of Seattle's churches.Plymouth Congregational Church, Seattle, WA
May 31, 1892Seattle Honors Its Civil War VeteransA massive Memorial Day parade and solemn ceremony at Lake View Cemetery mark the city's largest-ever tribute to fallen Union soldiers.Seattle High School, Seattle, WA
Sep 20, 1892The Veterans' Colony at Port AngelesA dedicated movement settles hundreds of Union veterans in a planned colony, promising a new boom for the Olympic Peninsula.Port Angeles, WA
Nov 3, 1892A Veteran’s Long Walk HomeA hungry and penniless soldier, having lost his horse in the Olympics, finds his fellow veterans unwilling to help him reach his home in Klickitat County to cast his vote.Yakima, WA
Nov 3, 1893The Lonely End of a Civil War VeteranAfter years spent laboring in Seattle's saloons, Alexander 'Scotty' Brown dies in the back room of a Jackson Street establishment.Jackson Street, Seattle, WA
May 31, 1894Memorial Day 1896: A Governor, a Nativist Oration, and Thirty Graves in the RainSeattle's Civil War remembrance became a stage for anxiety over unemployed marchers and foreign-born workers, while veterans decorated Lake View Cemetery under a steady downpour.Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, WA
May 31, 1894Memorial Day Parades and PoliticsSeattle celebrated Memorial Day with a massive procession and a theater program, where speakers linked the memory of Union veterans to modern anxieties over labor unrest and immigration.Seattle Theater, Seattle, WA
Jun 23, 1894Civil War Veterans Clash with Custom House Over Flag DisplayGrand Army of the Republic members in Olympia vow to hold federal officials accountable after an alleged failure to fly the American flag on Memorial Day.Olympia, WA
Jul 11, 1894The 1894 Railroad Strike Reaches Seattle—and the Militia Digs InAs the great Pullman-era railroad strike collapses in Washington, saboteurs burn trestles on the Northern Pacific, federal troops and the revenue cutter Grant move in, and Seattle's Civil War veterans pledge themselves to 'law and order.'Seattle, WA
Jul 12, 1894Seattle's Railroad Strike Goes Quiet—but the Unions Keep FightingAs the national railroad boycott convulses the country, Seattle's yards stay quiet under troops and deputies while local unions back Debs, condemn violence, and negotiate food and livestock passage through boycotted lines.Seattle, WA
May 27, 1895When Seattle Draped Its Church in Flags for the Union DeadIn 1895, veterans packed First Methodist at Third and Marion for an elaborate Memorial Sunday sermon, with stacked rifles, roses, palms and a choir.Seattle, WA
May 30, 1895The Old Soldiers Wept as Seattle's Schoolchildren SangMemorial Day 1895 found Grand Army veterans in Seattle classrooms, trading Antietam memories for recitations of 'Barbara Frietchie'—then preparing a parade to the Seattle Theater and View Cemetery.Seattle, WA
May 31, 1895A City Turns Out for Its Dead: Seattle's Memorial Day, 1895Three hundred and five veterans, three militia companies, high-school cadets and a twelve-foot column of flowers marched Front Street and filled the Seattle Theater — while the Board of Health kept the schoolchildren from singing.Seattle, WA
Sep 22, 1903Should Veterans Dabble in Politics?A national debate ignites over whether the Grand Army of the Republic should endorse a vice-presidential candidate, challenging the group's non-partisan status.Walla Walla, WA
Jun 2, 1910The Fading Ranks of the Grand Army of the RepublicTwenty elderly Civil War veterans observed Memorial Day in Lynden, marching with the local Woman's Relief Corps to honor the fallen.Lynden, WA