Celebrating Juneteenth

Honoring Texas History

Today, especially in Texas, we celebrate June 19th as the day of freedom.

On June 19 ("Juneteenth"), 1865, Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, which read, "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 personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."

It is amazing to think that it took months for the word of Freedom to flow out across Texas, but you have to remember there were only a few telegraph offices and limited railroads (mostly in East Texas). The telegraph system did not cross all of Texas until after the Civil War from 1866 until 1870 when 1500 miles of wire and telegraph offices became statewide. The railroads followed and eventually crossed the Western half of Texas.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, the tidings of freedom reached the approximately 250,000 slaves in Texas gradually as individual plantation owners informed their slaves over the months following the end of the war. The news elicited an array of personal celebrations, some of which have been described in The Slave Narratives of Texas (1974).

In the Texas state capital Juneteenth was first celebrated in 1867 under the direction of the Freedmen’s Bureau and became part of the calendar of public events by 1872.

Many of the first celebrations of Juneteenth were used as political rallies and to teach freed African Americans about their voting rights. Within a short time, however, Juneteenth was marked by festivities throughout the state, some of which were organized by official Juneteenth committees.

Juneteenth has been celebrated with formal thanksgiving ceremonies at which the hymn "Lift Every Voice" often furnished the opening. In addition, public entertainment, blues festivals, and rodeos, along with picnics, and family reunions have often featured dramatic readings, pageants, parades, barbecues, and ball games.

At the Texas Black Invitational Rodeo held in Dallas for the African American Museum we sing “Lift Every Voice” to share and honor this time in Texas history. The 35th Annual Rodeo will be held at 6:30 pm, Saturday, July 27, 2024 at Fair Park Coliseum in Dallas, Texas to coincide with the National Day of the Cowboy celebrations across the United States of America.

If you would like to learn more about multicultural Western Legends in Texas and the American Wild West be sure to visit and subscribe to our educational channel at www.YouTube.com/@WildWestDiversity/streams

We’ll see you on the trail, Liz