Finally, on June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston to proclaim the freedom of all slaves in the Lone Star State. His General Order Number 3 begins: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” (The entire text can be found here.)

But, as Henry Louis Gates notes:

When Texas fell and Granger dispatched his now famous order No. 3, it wasn’t exactly instant magic for most of the Lone Star State’s 250,000 slaves. On plantations, masters had to decide when and how to announce the news—or wait for a government agent to arrive—and it was not uncommon for them to delay until after the harvest. Even in Galveston city, the ex-Confederate mayor flouted the Army by forcing the freed people back to work.

Justice prevailed, however, and the first African American community to formally celebrate their freedom was in Galveston, TX. Galveston was the site of the first public reading of the proclamation in the south, as well as the first community to celebrate the holiday now known as “Juneteenth,” so named for the date of the reading of the historic Proclamation.

Gates points out that taking ownership of the holiday was in itself a revolutionary move for the former slaves: “In one of the most inspiring grassroots efforts of the post-Civil War period, they transformed June 19 from a day of unheeded military orders into their own annual rite, ‘Juneteenth,’ beginning one year later in 1866.” Juneteenth celebrations declined by the early 1900s, but then saw a rise in popularity again in the 1960s with onset of the Civil Rights Movement. It became an official state holiday in Texas on January 1, 1980.

Weekly Digest Get your fix of JSTOR Daily’s best stories in your inbox each Thursday. Privacy Policy Contact Us You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the provided link on any marketing message.

As you can imagine, Galveston, where the holiday began, puts on one of the biggest celebrations to this day. Held every year on June 19th, the celebration culminates with a commemorative reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, followed by a prayer breakfast at Ashton Villa, a notable historic home built in Galveston in 1859. And the holiday continues to be celebrated by the African American community across the country.