Juneteenth was not called “Juneteenth” the first time it was celebrated. It was called “Emancipation Day” or “Jubilee Day” in most early accounts. And while it was first celebrated in Galveston marking the June 19, 1865 issuance of a proclamation by Union General Granger announcing that Lincoln had freed the slaves on January 1, 1863, the celebration soon spread to other parts of Texas.
One of the earliest descriptions of a Juneteenth celebration published in a newspaper is this one from the Houston Daily Union published on Jun 20, 1871. Unfortunately the archive cut off the very end of the article which would describe the speech by Texas legislator Richard Allen. Allen had been born into slavery. He apparently remained a slave up until Juneteenth 1865. A skilled carpenter, he learned to read and write and in 1867 he became a voter registrar, assisting freed people in registering to vote for the first time in Texas history. In 1868 he joined the staff of the Freedmen’s Bureau, a Federal agency assisting former slaves. He was elected to the Texas legislature in 1869 as a Radical Republican.
While I have seen a number of short newspaper announcements of other Juneteenth celebrations from the first half-decade of Reconstruction, this one offers some telling details left out of the others. The first is that this celebration was in Houston, not the original Juneteenth city. By 1867, Juneteenth had spread beyond its origin point in Galveston to other centers of the Black population in Texas. Agents of the Freedmen’s Bureau supported these community celebrations which joined together a rejoicing in liberation from the Confederates and slavery with a demonstration of growing Black power and civic participation. It was a celebration, says the article, of the fact that on June 19th, 1865, Black people were, for the first time, the “owners… of their own bodies and souls.”
The fact that United States military officers usually spoke at the celebrations reinforced the alliance of Black communities with the Federal government in securing the blessings of Reconstruction for the African American community. This celebration came the year after the ratification of the 15th Amendment guaranteeing Black men the right to vote, although Black Texans had been voting for three years already under state law.
In the paragraph entitled “The Gathering,” the author says that the celebrants gathered in the courthouse square. This was the visible center of power in the city of Houston. They were met by a band sent over from Galveston. This shows the interconnections of African American communities in the region. The author also adds that the Houston community is trying to form its own brass band, an indication of the growth of institutions in the community of the freedpeople.
The article says that various African American organizations were represented. One of these was the “Drayman’s Club.” Draymen drove delivery wagons, they were the 19th Century’s equivalent of truck drivers. The “club” was likely a sort of labor union for those in this occupation. The benevolent associations mentioned were clubs formed for mutual aid in the Black community. These groups did everything from helping members down on their luck, to organize outings and picnics, to burying members when they died. Considering that most of the members of these groups were slaves just six years earlier, this is remarkable.
The assembly then “marched about the city,” something they could never have done under slavery, and proceeded to the fairgrounds where they heard speeches, danced, and enjoyed one another’s company.
Here are several short articles I have found on even earlier Juneteenth celebrations. The Austin celebration in 1868 was the second of its kind in that city. Like many early Juneteenths, it focused on a barbecue. It was notable because Texas Governor A.J Hamilton spoke at the celebration. Hamilton was a Texas Unionist during the Civil War and he aligned himself with Reconstruction immediately after it.
Tri-Weekly State Gazette
Monday, Jun 22, 1868
Austin, TX
Page:3
The next article I am reproducing is from Flake’s Bulletin. This was a moderate newspaper in Galveston published by a German immigrant. In this cryptic excerpt, Radical Republican Governor Edmund Davis is described as calling for an end to celebrations of Juneteenth. Since the newspaper describes Davis’s allies as “parasites,” I will not vouch for the accuracy of the description. Davis organized the Texas State Police to protect freedpeople from what we would now call “hate crimes,” and he had black officers appointed to that force. Whether he really opposed Juneteenth I cannot say.
Flake’s Bulletin
Sunday, Jun 19, 1870
Galveston, TX
Vol:V
Issue:307
Page: 4
I wanted to include the last newspaper article to show that Juneteenth was not only celebrated in the larger cities. This article announces the Juneteenth celebration in Harrisburg, Tx. At the time, Harrisburg was a growing railroad town southeast of Houston. It was later incorporated into the City of Houston.
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