Memorial Day was marked by American flags and motorcade processionals throughout Salisbury on Monday, but another celebration of the annual event took place the day before.

The Salisbury-Rowan NAACP, Rowan Museum and Soldiers’ Memorial AME Zion Church held a Memorial Day Commemoration ceremony and march that began at the downtown Salisbury church and ended at the city’s famed historic cemetery.

The event honored the contributions and sacrifices of Black soldiers, especially those who died while held in the Salisbury Confederate Prison during the Civil War. According to Aaron Kepley, director of Rowan Museum, Black people are more responsible for an annual observance of soldiers’ sacrifices than many realize.

“African Americans can be credited with one of the earliest Memorial Day celebrations in our history,” Kepley said in an email. “This happened in Charleston in May of 1865, just weeks after the surrender of both major Confederate armies. The event involved a parade, decoration of soldier’s graves and songs of freedom.”

Much like that original Memorial Day, Salisbury’s once-annual observance entailed a march to the National Cemetery. On Sunday, attendees retraced those steps, although with motorized assistance, along the route stretching from Soldiers Memorial along Main Street to Military Avenue.

According to a release from the NAACP, that route holds deep historical roots.

“After the Civil War, Salisbury’s African American community, led by Soldiers Memorial AME Zion, held annual parades to the Old National Cemetery to honor Union soldiers, particularly African American troops,” the release said. “Recent research from the Rowan Museum has uncovered that dozens of African American soldiers, including members of the famed 54th Massachusetts Regiment, are buried there.”

Kepley indicated it is difficult to determine how many Black soldiers were actually imprisoned at the camp. As a result of Stoneman’s Raid, described by northcarolinahistory.org as one of the conclusive operations of the Civil War, much of the documentation from the prisoner camp was destroyed.

“General Stoneman burned the prison records when he raided Salisbury in April 1865, so we have no concrete idea how many prisoners were here of all races,” Kepley said. “I have a spreadsheet done by local historian Ray Barber, who meticulously traced down as many prisoners as he could, and listed 165 African Americans as having spent some time in Salisbury.”

The march became known as the May 30th celebration.

“Tradition and oral history holds that very soon after the war, this was being celebrated and a parade was held every year to the mass grave in the National Cemetery,” Kepley said.

By 1935, the Negro Civic League took over the event and it morphed into a celebration of all veterans and Black history and culture.

Local NAACP chapter president Gemale Black said the partnership with the event emerged from his organization’s philosophies on community involvement.

“The NAACP is about partnerships that benefit our community members and community education, especially when it comes to our shared history,” Black said. “During the early stages of planning for our Lease Day event in January 2025, we learned more about the Memorial Day march and realized how many people in our community were unfamiliar with the local historical significance behind it. That sparked something in us.”

The local connection made it that much more significant.

“The fact that these marches and parades took place right here in Rowan County made it even more important for us to be involved,” Black said. “Collaborating with the Rowan Museum and the Soldiers Memorial AME Zion Church allowed us to tell their untold stories of African American soldiers and local community members. Our participation is about honoring their legacy and making sure this history is never forgotten.”

That local connection also resonated with Black as a Salisbury native.

“From the moment we gathered inside Soldiers Memorial and as we walked up the concrete road of the cemetery, it was a humbling experience to reflect on the fact that African American soldiers, who were fighting for the freedom of all, while also enduring racial injustice,” Black said. “What moved me most was that even during that time period, community members took the initiative to honor those soldiers. They marched, some on horseback, to pay their respects. For us to now carry that torch, to continue telling their story, and to walk in their footsteps to the National Cemetery it’s both an honor and a responsibility. It’s a reminder of the courage, sacrifice, and resilience that have shaped our community.”

Black added that he was pleased with Sunday’s turnout, which he said reflected the “diversity of ages in our community” and brought people together in unity to honor the past.

Ali Edwards was one of those attending. The lessons learned on Sunday serve as a poignant reminder of Black soldiers’ sacrifices.

“When we think of Civil War soldiers, we don’t really think about the many African Americans who went to battle for a country that didn’t view them as anything more than property,” Edwards said. “Yet, following the Emancipation Proclamation, these African Americans willingly enlisted, knowing they would be fighting with inferior equipment and often alongside soldiers who weren’t very accepting of them due to their skin color.”

The stakes were especially high if they were caught and sent to a prison like the one in Salisbury.

“They knew if they were caught, they faced being reenslaved in the South,” Edwards said. “African American soldiers had so much to lose, but still sacrificed their lives to fight for a great hope — a hope of what the country could be. Making sure we recognize those sacrifices and include their history in the history of the civil war is just really important.”