Did you know Juneteenth started right here in Galveston and that Juneteenth is the
oldest celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States?
The Galveston College Office of Student Activities and Student Government Association
will partner with Mr. C’s Dugout to provide a soul-food lunch menu on Wednesday, June
19, during luncheon service in the Chaney Student Center. Menu items include smothered
pork chops, white rice, cabbage, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, black-eyed peas
and cornbread.
The SGA will provide free peach cobbler and ice cream while supplies last, beginning
at 11 a.m. The SGA also will share a poster display with information on the history
of Juneteenth in Galveston and in the USA.
Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the freedom of the slaves in the United States.
The name Juneteenth is a combination of the words June and nineteenth. The day is
also called Emancipation Day and Freedom Day.
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862.
It went into effect on January 1, 1863. However, slaves were not set free in the Confederacy
until the Union army was able to come in and take over. On June 18, 1865, the Union
army arrived in Galveston, Texas. The next day, June 19, General Gordon Granger announced
that the slaves in Texas were free by order of the president of the United States.
The former slaves in Galveston celebrated the day that they were set free. The first
Juneteenth celebration took place the very next year. The annual celebration began
to spread throughout Texas and surrounding states. In 1980 it became an official state
holiday in Texas.