The procession was orderly and creditable to those participating in it. Notwithstanding the storm some eight hundred or a thousand men, women and children took part in the demonstration. “The colored people of Galveston celebrated their emancipation from slavery yesterday by a procession. On January 2, 1866, Flake’s Bulletin, a Galveston newspaper, reported on an Emancipation Celebration. 3, is significant and is a defining piece of modern commemorations. The history of celebration commemorating Juneteenth and General Orders, No. 1859 Ashton Villa, Galveston Historical Foundation ![]() In Galveston and elsewhere, Juneteenth is observed with speeches and song, picnics, parades, and exhibits of African-American history and art. Today the nineteenth of June is celebrated in more than 200 cities throughout the United States. The City of Galveston transferred the building and grounds in November 2018 to Galveston Historical Foundation who preserved and managed the property since 1970.ĬELEBRATIONS, PROCESSIONS, PICNICS, AND PARADESĪs African-Americans from Galveston and Texas migrated to other areas of the country, they took Juneteenth with them. In 2006, the Juneteenth Committee with the City of Galveston erected a statue of the reading of the order that remains a permanent reminder to residents and visitors of the Jevent. 3 through prayer, reflections, and community leadership. The event commemorates the reading of General Orders, No. In 1979, the Galveston Juneteenth Committee under the leadership of former city manager Doug Matthews and Texas Representative Al Edwards initiated an annual Juneteenth Celebration on the lawn of Ashton Villa at 2328 Broadway. states and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday or ceremonial holiday, a day of observance. After Texas recognized the date, many states followed suit. The law passed through the Texas Legislature in 1979 and was officially made a state holiday on January 1, 1980. Texas was the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday under legislation introduced by freshman Democratic state representative Al Edwards (Houston). In the late 1970s, the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a “holiday of significance particularly to the blacks of Texas”. Since then, the annual commemoration has grown from local roots to a national celebration featuring parades, readings, processions, and more. It was from that moment that Juneteenth would be born. Osterman Building – Left Foreground, Picturesque Galveston, 1900, Galveston Historical Foundation ![]() The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves were free. Granger delivered to Galveston General Orders, No. Two and a half years later, in June of 1865, more than two thousand Federal soldiers of the 13th Army Corps arrived in Galveston, and with them were Major General Gordon Granger, Commanding Officer, District of Texas. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward and forever free…” However, Lincoln’s proclamation would have little impact on Texans at that time due to the small number of Union troops available to enforce it. Issued under powers granted to the president “as a fit and necessary war measure”, the proclamation declared, “That on the 1st day of January, A.D. US President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. 3, read on Jannouncing that all slaves were free, is one of Galveston’s most important historical moments. ![]() 3 Major General Gordon Granger, Library of Congress Juneteenth and General Orders, No. The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
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