How Immigration Shaped Memorial Day
The holiday’s origins are tied to immigrant soldiers and Civil War grief
He was only 17, but he knew enough to wait until nightfall. With the lantern light of Boston Harbor glimmering in the distance, a young Joseph Pulitzer slipped overboard, the cold waters of the Atlantic swirling around him. He swam hard, determined to make landfall before the Union Army recruiters on the ship noticed he was gone.
Pulitzer would change th…