WHAT MAKES TEXAS "TEXAS"?

by Ann Marie Kennon

JUNETEENTH

AMERICA’S SECOND INDEPENDENCE DAY

[BLACKS AND WHITES] MAY HAVE GOTTEN THERE IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND AT DIFFERENT TIMES, BUT YOU CAN’T REALLY CELEBRATE FREEDOM IN AMERICA BY JUST GOING WITH THE FOURTH OF JULY.

~ REVEREND RONALD MEYERS, FOUNDER AND FORMER CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL JUNETEENTH OBSERVANCE FOUNDATION

IN 1980, TEXAS WAS THE FIRST STATE TO DECLARE JUNETEENTH A STATE HOLIDAY.

ON JUNE 19, 2021 THE NATION CELEBRATED JUNETEENTH AS A FEDERAL HOLIDAY, THE FIRST NEW DESIGNATION SINCE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY.

COMMUNITY MEMBERS, MYRIAD CIVIC GROUPS, CHURCHES, AND LOCAL AGENCIES IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY HAVE HELD THESE PUBLIC EVENTS FOR 70 YEARS.

Juneteenth is a day that traditionally recognizes the end of slavery in the United States. While many believe Abraham Lincoln’s executive order—the Emancipation Proclamation—freed the slaves, his 1863 order was just the first step.

IN BRIEF

President Lincoln signed the document on September 22, 1862, and it became official January 1, 1863. It effectively changed the legal status—from slave to free—of more than 3.5 million African Americans. However, the order was not recognized, nor would it be enforced, by states rebelling against the Union. But, once a slave escaped the control of the Confederacy, by moving across Union lines, or through the efforts of federal troops, he or she was permanently free. All others were legally freed either by state action, or when the 13th Amendment was ratified in December 1865. MEANWHILE, IN TEXAS...

Texas was geographically isolated from the significant battles of the Civil War and, in a time without mass communication, slavery persisted in the state, even after the Confederacy surrendered in April 1865. Finally, on June 19, Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 Union soldiers landed at Galveston. He read aloud from General Order Number 3:

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. “JUNETEENTH” BEGINS

History says reactions among the 250,000 Texas freedmen were mixed—from disbelief to being gone before the General even finished reading the statement. Never the less, a great annual convergence of music, feasts, and rodeos, took root over the following decades.

Juneteenth celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park in Austin. Photo from Austin History Center Initially called Jubilee Day or Emancipation Day, the biggest celebrations emerged in Galveston in the years following General Granger’s proclamation. In those early years, it flourished and grew, year over year, as former slaves returned to the city where it all happened, and new generations learned about and grew in appreciation of their parents and grandparents. As more families emigrated from Texas, they took the tradition with them and continued the celebration, first in border states, and eventually coast to coast. The day was first celebrated in Austin in 1867, and in 1872, African-American leaders purchased land specifically designated for the annual event, now known as Emancipation Park. Celebrations across Texas continued to grow and by the 1890s, the name had commonly changed to Juneteenth. In the 20th century, the Great Depression, World War II, and Civil Rights Movement brought many changes to the African-American community, and Juneteenth celebrations experienced surges and revivals over time; it was even an official destination at the Texas State Fair from 1936 to 1951. In 1979, Texas state legislator Al Edwards was the first to introduce a bill to make Juneteenth a legal holiday and the first state-approved celebration took place in 1980. In the years since, all but three states passed legislation to officially recognize June 19th, or the third Saturday in June, as an official holiday or observance. In 2021, in an ever-evolving celebration of common bonds of freedom, June 19 was named a Federal Holiday.