Today was celebrated in Tennessee as the beginning of the end of slavery in the state. While Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the state, Governor Andrew Johnson freed his own slaves on August 8, 1863. During the Reconstruction Era, the day became a day that combined religious worship with barbeques and parties celebrating the end of slavery. According to local news reports, former President Andrew Johnson attended the first public August 8th celebration in Greenville, Tennessee on August 8th, 1871.
Samuel Johnson, one of the slaves freed by Johnson, is credited with organizing the first August 8th celebration which included a parade. As Blacks were driven out of Appalachian Tennessee at the end of Reconstruction, they brought the holiday with them to Western Tennessee and Kentucky as they resettled.
The feature photo shows an August 8th service yesterday at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Paducah, Kentucky.
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