Bandera celebrates Juneteenth traditions
America’s newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.
It is celebrated on the anniversary of a federal order issued in Galveston, Texas by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas.
President Abraham Lincoln’s signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within rebel states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
With this declaration, more than 3.5 million enslaved people in the Confederate states gained their freedom but the news did not arrive in Texas until Major General Granger’s arrival in Galveston on June 19, 1865.
A year later on the first anniversary of this date, celebrations were held in Texas to honor this day of freedom.
The day became known as Juneteenth, a combination of “June” and “nineteenth.”
The first celebrations centered around the church and were held on church grounds.
In the years after the Civil War, African-American communities were still faced with discrimination and violence. African Americans were often prohibited from using public facilities for their celebrations, so some churches and communities raised funds to purchase property so that celebrations could be held without the fear of harassment.
Celebrations consisted of picnics and parades with attendees wearing their best clothing, women choosing to wear white dresses.
The traditions set by these early celebrations still continue today and include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation which promised freedom, choirs singing gospels and traditional songs, and the reading of poetry and meaningful essays.
The holiday is also a celebration of southern soul food and other food with African-American influences. Red food and drinks are the most prominent menu items. Traditional foods include red velvet cake, red soda, red beans and rice, and red fruit such as strawberries and watermelon.
Beliefs originating in Africa placed great spiritual value on the color red which symbolizes sacrifice, transition, and power. A celebration to recognize Juneteenth will be held in Bandera at the Bertha Tryon/ Hendrick Arnold Black Cemetery on Monday,June19, at11:00 a.m.
The cemetery is located on old Medina Highway right off of Highway 16.
This year’s celebration is being hosted by the Bandera County Historical Commission, the Frontier Times Museum and the Arthur Nagel Community Clinic. A wreath will be placed at the cemetery’s gate, and there will be a traditional reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.
A popular addition from last year’s celebration, the San Antonio Mass Gospel Choir, under the direction of Dr. James Wilcox, will again join the festivities.
Poet DaRell Pittman will grace the ceremony with a special recitation of the poem “The Old African Who Came to Dinner.”
Vaccinate Bandera will also have tents set up at the cemetery during the celebrations.
After the ceremony, a community picnic will be set up for participants to enjoy on the cemetery grounds, much like the early Juneteenth celebrations that were held throughout Texas.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a dessert.
This event is free and open to all who would like to commemorate this special day in our country’s history.
For more information, please call the Frontier Times Museum at 830-796-3864.
Rebecca Norton is the Executive DIrector of the Frontier Times Museum.