“A symbol of service and sacrifice, mourning and memory”: Public relations and public memory the 100th year commemoration of the tomb of the unknown soldier

Abstract

Public memory is the conceptual process through which understandings about a historic event are defined, informed, and reshaped. This concept is important for public relations practitioners as public memory provides substance for the communicative process providing the space to establish shared meanings for members of a given public. One example of the role of public relations practitioners in crafting public memory was the 100th anniversary celebration of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (TUS), termed #TUS100 in November 2021. In order to understand what and how memory was communicated through the #TUS100 event, we completed an interpretive thematic analysis of the materials created and distributed by the Arlington National Cemetery Office of Public Affairs related to the 100th year Tomb Commemoration and video clips from three popular national news outlets (ABC, CBS, NBC). In doing so we found that public memory is an evolving narrative that has the potential to create/reaffirm relationships—both of which have implications for public relations scholarship and practice.