Which Way, L.A.?
Memorial Day in America: Fun or Remembrance?
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Memorial Day in America: Fun or Remembrance?

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Memorial Day is a holiday dedicated to America’s war dead, but which is spent in very different ways in different cities, towns, neighborhoods and by different individuals. Also, the dispute over the design of the Eisenhower Memorial. (Rebroadcast of today's To the Point.)

Note: This story was informed in part from sources in the Public Insight Network, to find out more see our website www.KCRW.com/insight.

Banner image: Memorial Day commemoration, 2008. Photo by David Yu/flickr

Main Topic

Memorial Day in America: Fun or Remembrance? ()

Memorial Day has divided Americans as much as it has united them. It began as a celebration of Union Army soldiers who died in the Civil War. Southern States didn't embrace it until after World War I — and some still hold separate "Decoration Days" to remember the casualties of the Confederacy. Except for the Revolution, only the Civil War has been fought on American soil, and that makes it easy to forget those who've sacrificed for our country. Without the draft, more and more families don't have loved ones who've died in war.  We talk to public radio listeners are others about how they plan to spend a holiday that also features retail sales, barbeques and the Indy 500.

Guests:

Reporter's Notebook

The Dispute over the Eisenhower Memorial Design ()

Architect Frank Ghery was chosen three years ago to design a memorial to the late President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the Washington Mall. But Eisenhower's descendents objected to his design. Dell Upton is Professor and Chair of the Art History Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Guests:
  • Dell Upton: University of California, Los Angeles

Underwriters

Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.

 

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