“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.” Gordon Granger ~ Union General, June 19, 1865
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, established that all enslaved people in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth” by the newly freed people in Texas.
In Texas, slavery continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or significant presence of Union troops. Many enslavers from outside the Lone Star State had moved there as they viewed it as a safe haven for slavery.
According to History.com, “After the war came to a close in the spring of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galveston that June signaled freedom for Texas’s 250,000 enslaved people. Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone—in some cases, enslavers withheld the information until after harvest season—celebrations broke out among newly freed Black people, and Juneteenth was born. That December, slavery in America was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment.
“The year following 1865, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of “Jubilee Day” on June 19. In the ensuing decades, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services, and other activities, and as Black people migrated from Texas to other parts of the country, the Juneteenth tradition spread.”
In 1979, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday; since then, several other states have joined in recognizing and celebrating Juneteenth. In June 2021, Congress passed a resolution establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday; President Biden signed it into law on June 17, 2021.
Locally, there will be a Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 22nd. The event will occur at Shaw Park, on Sherman St., in the city’s east end, from noon to 4:00 p.m. There will be artists, speakers, and vendors. The Lycoming County NAACP presents the event in partnership with STEP Inc.’s Social Justice Task Force and the City of Williamsport.
Penn College will also host a Lunch & Learn on June 19th from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Penn’s Inn (Campus Center).
If you are up for a little drive, Lewisburg will host their inaugural Juneteenth Celebration on June 19th at Hufnagle Park from 4:00-8:00 p.m. and at the Campus Theater from 6:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
