a slaveholders' republic, and not about state rights, defense of home, nor merely soldiers' valor and sacrifice." By late April 1865, a white picket fence on which was written "The Martyrs of the Race Course" had been erected. On May 1, 1865, thousands of people, mainly newly freed blacks, processed to the site, and members of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marched around the site. The graves were decorated, speeches were offered, and celebrants enjoyed picnics in the area. This has been cited as the first Memorial Day celebration. By 1871, the cemetery was suffering neglect, and the soldiers were reinterred at the Beaufort and Florence National Cemeteries. In their 2014 book The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday in America, Bellware and Gardiner take issue with Blight's characterization of this event as the first Memorial Day. While appealing in its inclusiveness, the event lacks the intention to begin an annual tradition. It was a cemetery dedication, not unlike the one at Gettysburg two years earlier. It was a celebration of the fall of Charleston done in conjunction with the floral-themed May Day holiday. This was a one-time event and not meant to reoccur. When asked by the New York Times for proof of his assertion that it influenced General John A. Logan's inauguration of the national holiday, Blight confessed he had none. Bellware and Gardiner credit Mary Ann Williams and the Ladies Memorial Association of Columbus, Georgia as the true originators of the holiday as abundant contemporaneous evidence from across the nation exists to substantiate the claim. After the Civil War, the Jockey Club was unable to resume the popular racing season, and the land was leased for farming. In 1899, the Charleston Jockey Club disbanded, and its assets were given to the Charleston Library Society in 1900. The remnants of the racing structures were removed, but August Belmont was given the gates to the course which he had installed at Belmont Park in New York. Trade exposition At the turn of the century, Charleston hosted a regional trade exposition. The South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition of 1901–1902 was held on a large tract of land, including the former race course. The exposition opened on December 1, 1901, and attracted 674,086 attendees during its run. On April 9, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt attended the exposition. Nevertheless, the trade exposition was a financial failure, and it closed on