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Confederate descendants celebrate Confederate Memorial Day

Brandon Grant, of Troy, Ala., left, and Jakan Kyle, of Elba, center, carry confederate flags near the Alabama State Capitol during Confederate Memorial Day on Monday, April 27, 2015, in Montgomery, Ala.
Brandon Grant, of Troy, Ala., left, and Jakan Kyle, of Elba, center, carry confederate flags near the Alabama State Capitol during Confederate Memorial Day on Monday, April 27, 2015, in Montgomery, Ala. Brandon Grant, of Troy, Ala., left, and Jakan Kyle, of Elba, center, carry confederate flags near the Alabama State Capitol during Confederate Memorial Day on Monday, April 27, 2015, in Montgomery, Ala.

By Associated Press 3 min read

View complete coverage of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — One city block and 150 years from the first White House of the Confederacy, descendants of Confederate soldiers gathered outside the Alabama Capitol on Monday to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.

In Montgomery, the first official capital of the Confederacy, nearly 100 convened for the commemoration. Several men wore Confederate soldier uniforms. A few women wore “widow’s weeds” — the black dress a dead soldier’s wife would wear for the first year after her husband’s death.

“You can’t rewrite history,” said Leslie Kirk, chairwoman of the Alabama Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. “You can honor it, and you can learn from it.”

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American Civil War commemorated way, way down south of Dixie

Kirk organized this year’s commemoration at the Capitol, where pastor Cecil Williamson was keynote speaker.