Celebrating Freedom – Juneteenth 1865.

*(L-0076*) *In 1958-1959, on the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, the USPS issued four commemorative stamps honoring our 16th President.*

January 1, 1863. Known as “Freedom’s Eve,” enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country until the news had arrived. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

Once the Civil War ended in April 1865, enslavers were responsible for informing enslaved people of their newfound freedom, but not everyone in Confederate-controlled territory would immediately be told. The westernmost Confederate state of Texas was the last to announce the proclamation. On June 19, 1865, 2,000 Union troops under Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed a community of 250,000 enslaved people in Galveston Bay, Texas that they were now free.

Juneteenth is a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” – and is now a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, and it is considered the longest-running African American holiday.

*The Fisk University Jubilee Singers – 1872*

The first known Juneteenth celebrations began in 1866 and spread across the country as African Americans migrated to new cities.

One of the earliest ‘recorded’ Juneteenth celebrations in U.S. history took place on June 19, 1900 in Wheeler’s Grove, Texas – now known as Eastwoods Park in Austin. That celebration was photographed in 1900 by Grace Murray Stephenson, a young, white woman who lived a few blocks away. Stephenson later sold her story and photographs to the San Francisco Chronicle. Here are those photographs…

As the Civil War ends, more African-Americans settle in Iowa City – building simple homes on Blocks 96-99 on the riverfront – read more here.

*Juneteenth Celebration – Richmond, Virginia – 1905*.

Here in Iowa, there are numerous celebrations held on and around June 19th. We, here at Our Iowa Heritage offer our salute to this very important day in U.S. history – Freedom for One and All!