Harding Lays Wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Armistice Day, 1922

Harding to Lay Wreath on Tomb of “Unknown Soldier” at Arlington. . . President, Accompanied by Secretaries of War and Navy Will Pay Tribute to the Nation’s Dead. . . Simple Ceremony. . . In Message to People, Chief Executive Calls Attention to Significance of Armistice Day and Its Observance. . . Friends to Visit Wilson. . . Citizens of Washington Will Gather About Home of Former President and, Upon His Appearance, a Short Program Will Be Carried Out, Including Presentation of Flowers

By the Associated Press

Washington, Nov. 10—Simplicity will characterize the official observance tomorrow of the anniversary of Armistice Day—the day which President Harding, in a message to the American people tonight, declared marked “the victorious culmination of our nation’s most impressive participation in the affairs of the world.

Simple in contrast with the ceremonies of a year ago in which the representatives of the rulers and potentates of the world’s most powerful nations joined, doing honors to America’s dead as typified in the unknown soldier, a little group will leave the White House early tomorrow to lay a wreath symbolizing the nation’s Armistice day tribute on the tomb in Arlington national cemetery of that unknown hero. It will include the President and the secretaries of war and navy and the pilgrimage these three will make is expected to establish a precedent, to be followed through the years.

Also simple, but more informal, will be another event that will mark the day—the visit of a group of friends and admirers to the home on S street of Woodrow Wilson, the nation’s war president. This will be in accord with a custom established last year, when several thousand persons, after paying tribute to the unknown soldier, went to the Wilson home and showed the esteem in which they held the former president. Lat year they received a simple little greeting and they hope for the same tomorrow.

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From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Nov. 11, 1922