Juneteenth Jubilee
ON JUNE 19, 1865, U.S. Major General Gordon Granger stood in Galveston, Texas, and read aloud news that would mark a turning point in American history. “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” the orders stated. It was a hallowed day. Two and half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, all enslaved people in the former Confederate States were finally declared free.
The date became known by names like Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, the Nineteenth of June, and later, Juneteenth, and the celebration that ensued in Texas the following year was the beginning of an annual tradition among the newly freed people. Black people held prayer meetings, sang spirituals, and dressed up in their
