TEXAS JUNETEENTH
Sat, June 08, 2024
Freedom for enslaved Texans came two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing African-Americans in the rest of the country. The day of that announcement in the Lone Star State — June 19, 1865 — is now celebrated as Juneteenth!
Join us Saturday, June 8, to celebrate this important day in Texas history.
“Texas Juneteenth: Amazing History, Enduring Legacy” will feature readings of Union Gen. Gordon Granger’s proclamation in Galveston announcing that Texas slaves had their freedom, presentations about the history of Juneteenth and a special arts program.
The special program will start at 9 a.m. with tours of the Dodson House that is under restoration as the new Freeman’s history site to showcase the amazing successes and self-guided empowerment of formerly enslaved Texans in the decades after Emancipation, despite prevalent racism of the day.
From 10-11 a.m., a special hour-long program in our Wessels dance hall will feature the reading of the 1865 Emancipation Proclamation and a special arts program. The pre-Juneteenth program is designed to encourage the preservation of African American history in Central Texas, from bricks and mortar to the stories and music.