6th Annual Celebrate Juneteenth
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Celebrate Juneteenth will be held on Saturday, June 17, 2023 (12 pm - 4 pm) at Mankato's Civic Center Plaza for the historic celebration of Black and African American independence in the United States and to promote our local BIPOC communities.
We will begin with a Freedom March from Shared Spaces (127 South 2nd Street) to the Civic Center Plaza. Meet us at 12 pm to walk at 12:15. The free public event includes vendors providing food, merchandise, and services; children's activities; a special guest speaker; and entertainment. Read more below, and contact us for volunteer, vendor, sponsor, and other opportunities. BIOPC-owned businesses register for free. This event promises to be an exciting and memorable one! We would love to see you there! |
Juneteenth is the oldest known nationally celebrated event commemorating the end of slavery in the United StatesOn June 19, 1865, enslaved Black and African Americans of Texas received formal notice of their freedom. This was the final notice within the ten Confederate states still in rebellion, more than two years following the Emancipation Proclamation.
In Galveston, Texas, Union General Gordon Granger signed General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865 declaring "All slaves are free." More than two years prior, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, announcing that "all persons held as slaves" ... "are, and henceforward shall be free." Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 and a Minnesota state holiday in 2023. |
...all persons held as slaves ... are, and henceforward shall be free. 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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer. |
Emancipation Day, June 19, 1900, Austin, TX
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Emancipation Day Celebration attendees and band, photos taken by Mrs. Charles (Grace Murray) Stephenson. The Celebration took place on June 19, 1990, in the "East Woods" on East 24th Street in Austin, TX.
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The Portal to Texas History reports that Grace Murray Stephenson also kept a diary of the day's events. She later sold it to the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported a full-page feature on it.
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Stephenson, Mrs. Charles (Grace Murray). [Emancipation Day Celebration, June 19, 1900], photograph, June 19, 1900; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth124053/: accessed April 28, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
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Stephenson, Mrs. Charles (Grace Murray). [Emancipation Day Celebration band, June 19, 1900], photograph, June 19, 1900; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth124054/: accessed April 28, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
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Celebrate Juneteenth over the years
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The Greater Mankato / North Mankato area is home to a large and growing diverse population that enriches our community.
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With that comes opportunities to provide the time and space to celebrate our heritage while being empowered to BE MORE and DO MORE for our community.
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Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: 'I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.'"
- Maya Angelou, literary icon and activist
