Juneteenth

The Junction City Arts Council is pleased to be an active partner with the Junction City Juneteenth Committee.

With the dedication of several volunteers a growing celebration occurs in Junction City the second weekend of June.

Juneteenth is the celebration of the the day that the slaves of Galveston, Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation. This is not to be confused with the date of emancipation, which had occured more than two years earlier.

On June 19, 1865, it is said the General Gordon Granger made the following announcement:

"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not or elsewhere."

From that point forward, all slaves in America were free.

In Junction City we are pleased to use this time as an opportunity to celebrate the arts of the African American culture.