Juneteenth---Jubilee

June 19th is celebrated in Texas as the anniversary of Emancipation---

Not the day that Lincoln issued the Proclamation, which was in September, 1862

or the day enforcement began, which was January 1st, 1863.

But the June day that Texas slaves

 heard that they were free.

Today we tend to celebrate abolition and emancipation in general on Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday in January, which is a national holiday.

But after the Civil War and into the twentieth century different cities celebrated on different dates.

In Washington City a celebration of abolition was held on April 15, 1866

captured in Harper's Weekly.

April 16th is still celebrated there as the date when slavery was abolished in the capitol in 1862.

Details capture the usual festivities:

Speechmaking,

Dressing in one's best and reunions with old friends.

Music was an important part of the celebration

Above, the Slayton Jubilee Singers in the early 20th century.

There were parades like this one in Richmond, Virginia on April 3, 1905,

And mourning for Lincoln, the "Great Emancipator"

...as in this 1888 photo. Both of the above pictures are from the collection of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. April 3 was the date that Richmond was captured by Union troops.

Read more here:

Click on those decades at the bottom of their page to read newspaper accounts over the years.

Parades continued in Essex County, Virginia on April 3rd for decades.

In Preble County, Ohio, people celebrated "The Blessings of Liberty" on September 22nd in 1881, the date Lincoln signed the Proclamation in 1862. The poster is from the Ohio Historical Society's collection. 

Gallia County, Ohio has been celebrating on the September date since 1863.

Several cities celebrate on January 1, the day of Jubilee, when paraders and picnickers might suffer from inclement weather in the depths of winter. Baltimore celebrated on November 1 in 1864.

Tallahassee celebrates in May when Florida's slaves were freed. Canadians celebrate in August as do Kansans in Hutchinson

As the generations who lived through slavery aged, their grandchildren came to forget the meaning in the dates and most of the local celebrations died out. The 150th Anniversary of Civil War events has inspired some revivals.

My latest reproduction collection from Moda celebrates

this year's 150th anniversary of  the Emancipation Proclamation.

See more here: