Juneteenth an official city holiday in Galveston 156 years after the first celebration
The city of Galveston has celebrated Juneteenth for 156 years. As the birthplace of the day - also referred to as Emancipation Day - Galveston’s pride in its place in history is undeniable.
There are the parades, re-enactments, choir presentations and other events marking the day that black slaves in Galveston and elsewhere in Texas under the Confederacy were informed they were free.
General Order No. 3 was read throughout the city two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and two months since the end of the Civil War. Slaveowners in Texas, one of the farthest outposts of the slave states, refused to acknowledge it and there were few Union soldiers in the state to enforce it.
However, the city has never recognized Juneteenth as an actual holiday.
That is until now.
Pushed by first-term councilman William Schuster - a US History Teacher for Galveston ISD - Galveston City Council approved making Juneteenth an official city holiday.
Making it official means non-emergency city offices will be closed and city government employees will get a paid day off.
The move comes as 48 of the country’s 50 states and Washington DC have some form of Juneteenth recognition as a holiday observation or an official state holiday.
Illinois may soon join that list after its legislature passed a holiday law last week.
Galveston Mayor Craig Brown said the holiday for the city was long overdue.
Recently Opal Lee of Fort Worth returned to Galveston to conduct her annual WalkToDC a 2.5-mile walk (marking the 2.5 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas and be enforced) to bring attention to her efforts to make Juneteenth a National Holiday.
Because June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, it will be observed on Friday as a city holiday. City facilities will be closed Friday, June 18, and we will resume normal operations on Monday.
Schuster said the council will review the holiday ordinance again to determine if the holiday should always be marked on June 19, or if the recognition be done either the Friday or Monday of the week.
There are several events planned in Galveston for Juneteenth. The Juneteenth Legacy Project will dedicate its public art installation, "Absolute Equality," on June 19 at 11:30 a.m. in Galveston. The public ceremony will feature a host of special guests important to the initiative. Special guests will include Senator John Cornyn and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who are co-authoring legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
The Juneteenth Parade will be on June 19 at 1. This year the parade will begin at 26th and Ball and travel west on Ball to 41st Street, ending at Wright Cuney Park, where a picnic will follow the parade.
Other events are planned as well, many will air on the i45NOW Channel and the new Galveston NOW Channel.
