Historian Klay to speak about legacy of Grand Army of the Republic post

MILLERTON — Sean M. Klay, historian for American Legion Post 178, will give a talk titled “Standing on the Shoulders of Those Who Came Before: The Lasting Legacy of Henry Gridley Post 617, Grand Army of the Republic” on Thursday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. at the NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex, 28 Century Blvd.

In his talk, which is sponsored by the North East Historical Society, Klay will discuss the post, the Civil War officer it was named after, and contributions of other veterans of that war from Millerton and the Town of North East.

Before Millerton’s American Legion Post 178 was established in 1927, following the creation of the American Legion in 1919 after World War I, another organization helped local veterans, looked after their graves, and promoted civic and patriotic events. It was an outlying post of the Grand Army of the Republic that was created in 1887 and therefore served this community for half a century.

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois, in the aftermath of the Civil War as a fraternal organization of veterans who served in the Union Army, Union Navy and Marines. It eventually included hundreds of posts across the country, mostly in the North and West.

GAR became one of the first significant organized groups to lobby Congress, fighting for regular pensions for veterans, promoting patriotic education, supporting voting rights for Black veterans, and helping to establish Memorial Day, earlier known as Decoration Day, as a national holiday.

Though the Gridley Post is beyond modern memory, Klay said, “Still, our community is indebted to it, and what it started benefits our community even today.”