Juneteenth Celebrations Past and Present

By Kevin Kinney

This article was originally published in the Galveston County Daily News on June 17, 2020: https://www.galvnews.com/lifes...

Participants and spectators during the Juneteenth parade, 1991. Juneteenth Celebration Photographs, Special Collections Photographs #141. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

Friday, June 19 is Juneteenth, which marks the day when General Gordon Granger of the Union army arrived in Galveston in 1865 to issue General Order No. 3, stating that in keeping with the Emancipation Proclamation announced by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, all enslaved persons in the United States are free. Also called Jubilee Day, it became an official state holiday in 1980 after former State Representative Al Edwards introduced legislation to formally commemorate June 19 as a day of emancipation for African-Americans who learned of their freedom that day. Celebrations of that moment continue to this very day in Texas and across the country.

Photo of drill team in Juneteenth parade along Ball St., Susanne King Photographic Collection, Special Collections Photographs #58. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

Rosenberg Library's Special Collections Department has several collections chronicling these celebrations in Galveston. The Susanne King Photographic Collection contains photos taken by King as part of the “Town vs. Metropolis: The Galveston Story” project funded by the Texas Committee for the Humanities and the Moody Foundation. The collection includes photos of the Juneteenth celebration’s kickoff in Galveston in 1980, showing Edwards standing next to “Miss Juneteenth” Tawana Shotwell, State Representative E. Douglas McLeod, and Mayor Gus Manuel on the steps of Ashton Villa, as well as a parade along Ball St. from 41^st St. (Jack Johnson Blvd.) to 26^th St.

Juneteenth Kickoff at Ashton Villa, 1980. From left to right: Galveston Police Captain Leon Lewis, Douglas W. Matthews, Mayor Gus Manuel, Texas State Representative Al Edwards (Houston), Tawana Shotwell (Miss Juneteenth), Texas State Representative E. Douglas McLeod (Galveston), and Reverend James Thomas. Susanne King Photographic Collection, Special Collections Photographs #58. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

Another collection concerning Juneteenth is the Juneteenth Celebration Collection, which documents another celebration in 1991, sponsored by St. Vincent’s House, who donated the collection. This collection contains correspondence, programs, writings, and other printed materials relating to the sprawling six-day event, which began on June 14 with a pageant/talent show at Central Middle School and ended with a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at Ashton Villa and a parade on June 19. One item of note is a proclamation by Mayor Barbara K. Crews and City Council designating June 19, 1991 as a day to observe Juneteenth in the city.

The City of Galveston’s proclamation of June 19, 1991 as “Emancipation Proclamation—Juneteenth 1991.” Juneteenth Celebration Collection, MS91-0008. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

The collection also includes the winning essays from a contest held at Central after the parade. The contest topic was “What Emancipation Proclamation Means To You,” and first prize went to 8^th-grader Wayne Glinski for his entry “Just a Colored War?” Finally, the collection contains color photographs of the Juneteenth parade through the city, which began at St. Vincent’s House and featured live music and groups such as the Boy Scouts and the city of Galveston.

Car in parade featuring a sign saying “Happy Juneteenth—Our People Freed,” 1991. Juneteenth Celebration Photographs, Special Collections Photographs #141. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

These collections are a sampling of what the Galveston and Texas History Center has collected on this significant day and on many other vital topics on African-American history in Galveston. You can find other collections on Juneteenth on our African-American History Resources: From Slavery to Juneteenth guide.