Posted on Jun 20, 2022
The new Juneteenth federal holiday traces its roots to Galveston, Texas
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https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/ [login to see] /the-new-juneteenth-federal-holiday-traces-its-roots-to-galveston-texas
As a blazing sun rises over Galveston Island on the Texas coast, Sam Collins stands on the spot where history happened 157 years ago.
"The birthplace of Juneteenth is here at the southwest corner of 22nd and Strand where Gen. Gordon Granger set up his Union headquarters," says Collins, co-chair of the Juneteenth Legacy Project and unofficial tourism ambassador of Juneteenth in Galveston. "So while Juneteenth became a national holiday last year, it has always been important to the descendants of the former enslaved here in Galveston and all throughout Texas."
Visitors flock to this languid barrier island to splash in the warm waters of the gulf, take in the graceful, historic architecture, eat oysters and stroll along the seawall. With the new Juneteenth federal holiday, signed into law last year by President Biden, the city hopes it will also become a must-visit site of essential American history.
"You can read about Juneteenth. You can watch a documentary about Juneteenth," Collins says, "but if you want to be immersed in the story, you have to visit Galveston, Texas, and the sites associated with June 19, 1865."
As a blazing sun rises over Galveston Island on the Texas coast, Sam Collins stands on the spot where history happened 157 years ago.
"The birthplace of Juneteenth is here at the southwest corner of 22nd and Strand where Gen. Gordon Granger set up his Union headquarters," says Collins, co-chair of the Juneteenth Legacy Project and unofficial tourism ambassador of Juneteenth in Galveston. "So while Juneteenth became a national holiday last year, it has always been important to the descendants of the former enslaved here in Galveston and all throughout Texas."
Visitors flock to this languid barrier island to splash in the warm waters of the gulf, take in the graceful, historic architecture, eat oysters and stroll along the seawall. With the new Juneteenth federal holiday, signed into law last year by President Biden, the city hopes it will also become a must-visit site of essential American history.
"You can read about Juneteenth. You can watch a documentary about Juneteenth," Collins says, "but if you want to be immersed in the story, you have to visit Galveston, Texas, and the sites associated with June 19, 1865."
The new Juneteenth federal holiday traces its roots to Galveston, Texas
Posted from npr.org
Galveston
Freedom
Slavery
American History
Civil War
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."For many in Galveston, Juneteenth is profoundly personal. June Collins Pulliam, director of a local music academy, traces her lineage to 1865. Her great-great-grandparents were Horace and Emily Scull, enslaved to a family named Scull on nearby Bolivar Peninsula.
“My great-great-grandparents and their young children were directly impacted,” she says, “because with this announcement of General Orders No. 3 they were then freed and able to make lives for themselves here in Galveston.”
As a freedman, Horace Scull was a skilled and sought-after carpenter. He built his own house and the houses of other emancipated people in town. His son, R.A. Scull, became a preacher and teacher, and taught in segregated Galveston schools for 52 years.
Juneteenth has come to signify so much for Black Americans throughout the country “but even moreso, I think, to those of us who are right here in Galveston where it happened,” says Pulliam. “It’s something I treasure, something I’m just glad that now the world recognizes it.”
..."For many in Galveston, Juneteenth is profoundly personal. June Collins Pulliam, director of a local music academy, traces her lineage to 1865. Her great-great-grandparents were Horace and Emily Scull, enslaved to a family named Scull on nearby Bolivar Peninsula.
“My great-great-grandparents and their young children were directly impacted,” she says, “because with this announcement of General Orders No. 3 they were then freed and able to make lives for themselves here in Galveston.”
As a freedman, Horace Scull was a skilled and sought-after carpenter. He built his own house and the houses of other emancipated people in town. His son, R.A. Scull, became a preacher and teacher, and taught in segregated Galveston schools for 52 years.
Juneteenth has come to signify so much for Black Americans throughout the country “but even moreso, I think, to those of us who are right here in Galveston where it happened,” says Pulliam. “It’s something I treasure, something I’m just glad that now the world recognizes it.”
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