Juneteenth celebrates African American freedom and culture and honors those who were emancipated some 157 years ago in Galveston, Texas.
As referenced in this easttexashistory.org piece, “By the end of the Civil War, Galveston had been blockaded, besieged, captured, occupied, recaptured, and defended. When the Confederacy was finally defeated, surrender terms were formally signed on June 2, 1865 by General Edmund Kirby aboard the USS Fort Jackson in Galveston Harbor. On June 18, Union General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston with 2,000 Federal troops to occupy Texas. On the following day, he officially announced that the war was over and that the enslaved African American population in Texas was free.”
The Town of Babylon invites members from the community to join us in the Town Board Room at Babylon Town Hall on Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. as we host Dr. Pam Robinson, Executive Director of the Keep Your Change academic enrichment program. Dr. Robinson will give a presentation on the significance of this day in American history.
You can read the full historical piece referenced above by clicking here: https://easttexashistory.org/items/show/160#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%20the,Fort%20Jackson%20in%20Galveston%20Harbor