The Unsteady March on the Stony Road to the Juneteenth National Holiday

Neither Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1862, Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, nor the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston to William T. Sherman at Durham Station on April 18, 1865 marked the end of Slavery or hostilities between Union and Confederate forces. Indeed, the Emancipation Proclamation was a war time measure and freed enslaved people only in the States in rebellion, with exceptions even in these States that were under Union control on January 1, 1862. The Emancipation Proclamation did not free Enslaved persons in the Border States of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri--all of which were slave states.

Hostilities between the States continued with there being a Confederate victory in Texas at the Battle of Palmito Ranch as late as May 12-13, 1865. A treaty ending hostilities in Texas was signed on May 26, 1865. Enslaved people in Texas received an official reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston as General Orders No. 3 on June 19, 1865. This Order included significant provisions not in the January 1, 1862 Proclamation. This day of celebration initially called "Emancipation Day" evolved into our present-day "Juneteenth."

In this talk, we will discuss the significance of Juneteenth in today's world, the evolution of "Juneteenth" and the challenges, cultural, social and culinary settings, as Juneteenth spread throughout the Nation in its Uneven March over a Stony Road to become a National Holiday.