Take a book. Start a conversation. Change our world.

Moraine Park is bringing the Little Free Library (LFL) – Read in Color initiative to all three campus libraries. The initiative brings diverse books to LFL boxes across the country, creating a more inclusive and equitable world for all.

At Moraine Park, the launch of the Little Free Library will feature books that provide perspectives on racism and social justice; celebrate BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized voices; and experiences from many identities for readers.

This project was inspired by MPTC’s Innovation 2025 values of collaboration, continuous improvement, impactful learning, and inclusivity, and is brought to the College by Moraine Park’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cross-Functional team in partnership with Student Services.

“Little Free Library believes everyone should be able to see themselves in the pages of a book,” said LFL Executive Director Greig Metzger. “We also believe a broader awareness of the diverse life experiences in America can break down barriers and nurture a deeper understanding of our society’s inequities.”

The books can be found on the Fond du Lac campus near the library. This initiative will be brought to the Beaver Dam and West Bend campuses by the end of the summer.

(Sourced from https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history)

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Memorial Day 2022 will occur on Monday, May 30.

Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

The Birthplace of Memorial Day and Early Observances

The Civil War, which ended in the spring of 1865, claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.

By the late 1860s, Americans in various towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers and reciting prayers.

Did you know? Each year on Memorial Day a national moment of remembrance takes place at 3:00 p.m. local time.

It is unclear where exactly this tradition originated; numerous different communities may have independently initiated the memorial gatherings. And some records show that one of the earliest Memorial Day commemorations was organized by a group of formerly enslaved people in Charleston, South Carolina less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered in 1865. Nevertheless, in 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day.

Waterloo—which first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—was chosen because it hosted an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

History of Memorial Day

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars, including World War II, The Vietnam War, The Korean War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date General Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees. The change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

Memorial Day Traditions and Rituals

Cities and towns across the United States host Memorial Day parades each year, often incorporating military personnel and members of veterans’ organizations. Some of the largest parades take place in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

Americans also observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials. Some people wear a red poppy in remembrance of those fallen in war—a tradition that began with a World War I poem. On a less somber note, many people take weekend trips or throw parties and barbecues on the holiday, perhaps because Memorial Day weekend—the long weekend comprising the Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day and Memorial Day itself—unofficially marks the beginning of summer.

History.com. (2022, May 16). Memorial Day. In History Channel. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history