nypl:
It’s Memorial Day, and in its honor, here’s an image (circa 1768) of the flower that later became known as the “Memorial Day Poppy.” The poppy movement to honor veterans and those lost serving their country was started by Moina Michael, who - inspired by Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Fields” that described poppies growing between the grave markers of soliders who had fought valiantly - wrote her own 1918 World War I poem mentioning the flower “We Shall Keep The Faith.” She started wearing a poppy, and the tradition lives on today. You can read more about Moina Michael via the Library’s collections starting tomorrow. Today, NYPL is closed in honor of Memorial Day.