The First Juneteenth in Houston

Galveston, Texas, is rightly celebrated as the birthplace of Juneteenth, the nation’s newest federal holiday. But nearby Houston also played an important role in the holiday’s origins. And earlier this year, I came across a previously little known account of the first Juneteenth celebration—in Houston.

The date of Juneteenth itself—June 19, 1865—was the day when Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, declaring that U.S. troops had arrived to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. But where was the first anniversary of the day celebrated on June 19, 1866?

The answer is not as obvious as it may seem. Scholarly accounts of the holiday’s origins often note that “little is known about the first emancipation celebrations in Texas.” It is known that various communities across the South initially celebrated the arrival of emancipation on different days. In Galveston, for example, African Americans held an early emancipation celebration on January 1, 1866, marking the third anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation that Granger had arrived in June 1865 to enforce. A summertime celebration was also held that year in San Antonio, apparently on June 9.¹

But African Americans in Houston may have been the first to use June 19 itself as a celebration day.² On June 19, 1866, the one-year anniversary of Granger’s order, they held a “celebration of the anniversary of their freedom” with a procession through the city streets followed by “a grand barbecue.” And thus was born the first observance of Juneteenth on Juneteenth.³

Even so, previous historical accounts have said very little about the Houston celebration. That may be because the city’s primary newspaper at the time, the Houston Telegraph, said little in its own reports from before and after the celebration. And what it did say was distorted by racism.

On the day of the 1866 gathering, for example, the Telegraph claimed that enslaved people had been “faithful and dutiful” up to the time of their emancipation and that “we, their old masters, are still the best friends the negroes have.” The paper urged white Houstonians to “Let them enjoy its celebration unmolested,” concluding that “kindness to inferiors is a Southern virtue.”⁴

Clearly, the Telegraph was not the most reliable narrator of what happened that first Juneteenth in Houston. Yet historians have long believed that this account was all we really had. What they have not previously known is that there was another account. It was published in a short-lived newspaper called the Houston Evening Star.

Copies of the Star are rare and not widely held. But in the 1930s, Charles Franklin, a researcher in Houston with the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, went through the newspaper as part of the team that eventually produced the book Houston, a History and Guide. (Ruby Maloney’s name is also listed parenthetically on the notes, apparently as a coworker based in Austin.)

These notes are now preserved in Henry Maresh’s WPA Guide to Houston Files at the Houston Public Library. Part of Maresh’s collection has been digitized, yet much of it remains unprocessed: filed in boxes organized loosely by folders.

And that may be why, until I came across them earlier this year, almost no one seems to have been aware that Franklin or Maloney transcribed some lengthy reports on Houston’s first Juneteenth, first published in the Evening Star.

According to these notes, the Star first reported on the upcoming anniversary on Wednesday, June 13, 1866:

Colored Barbecue - A grand barbecue is to be given to the freedmen of Houston next Tuesday in commemoration of the first anniversary of the day on which they became a free people. We understand that great preparations are being made by them for this occasion; tickets are being circulated and purchased at the rate [of] one dollar each, and we are told the white people will also be invited to attend.

Some of the colored people tells us that they understand many of our citizens who have freedmen and women hired, object to giving them the day that they might enjoy it to its full extent. This we think must be false. We do not believe there is a family in Houston who would refuse to give the colored people one day for the purpose of thanksgiving, Speech making and merriment. We do not think that the colored people as a class believe any such thing. We will endeavor to be there, or be where we can get a birds eye view of the affair.

So far, the Evening Star sounded at least partly like the Telegraph in its paternalistic description of postwar race relations in Houston. But the white journalist’s professed optimism about the good feelings of white Houstonians was belied by a report, two days later, about a grand parade by white firemen that took place in Houston on June 14.

Here is part of the WPA researchers’ transcription of that article, which was published in the Evening Star on June 15, 1866:

… “Hook and Ladder” [one of the fire companies] was last in the order of marching, blue fannel shirts and black pants being their uniform. Their Truck was drawn by four white horses, upon which was arranged a canopy, upon which was placed a monument in memory of the confederate dead, upon which was seated a beautiful young girl, mourning for the “dead nation” and its martyrs. She was dressed in red, white, and blue, with crape over the stars which represent the Southern States. She wore manacles on her hands with chains at her feet, as indicative of the condition of her own native land. She did not represent the Goddess of Liberty (as some of the Federal officers supposed) but the South, the down trodden, the oppressed South. It was painfully beautiful and touching, and reminding [sic] us of Andromache lying chained and weeping for her Lord….

As the white firemen’s parade made clear, militant, pro-Confederate sentiment remained rampant among white Houstonians one year after the Civil War. Indeed, the firemen’s parade on June 14, featuring a U.S. flag with the Southern stars blacked out by mourning fabric, adds important context for the procession held by freedpeople only a few days later, on June 19.

As the Telegraph reported, thousands of Black marchers filled the streets on the morning of Juneteenth and “were passing Main street from quite an early hour of the morning until after ten o’clock. The marshals or the directors of the procession rode on horse back and wore sashes, some of red, some of white, and some of blue.” And the marchers also carried a “great number of United States banners from the size of a pocket handkerchief up to a bed quilt, supplied no doubt for the occasion by the military.”

The “imposing appearance of the scene” cut quite the contrast with the pro-Confederate symbolism of the “Hook and Ladder” float that had rolled through the city’s streets less than a week before. More than “merriment” alone, the flag-waving Juneteenth procession sent a clear political message about the finality of the Confederacy’s defeat—and its significance for the “freedmen.”

That message was only reinforced by the ceremonies that followed the procession. The Houston Telegraph said little about those ceremonies, noting only that the marchers “proceeded to the place selected for the occasion, and passed nearly the entire day in festivities and rejoicing.” The city’s major newspaper did not send a reporter to the scene.

The Evening Star, however, did.

And in the twentieth century, WPA researchers transcribed its report (published in the Star on June 20, 1866) like this:

Freedmen’s Celebration

The Preparation.–

A great portion of the past week has been spent by the colored people in preparing for this occasion—this first anniversary of their freedom. They appear to have made extensive preparations without regard to trouble or expense, as they had a most beautiful feast prepared.

Freedmen from Galveston.–

We understand that a considerable body of freedmen came up from Galveston and partook with them on this most joyous occasion.

The Procession.–

The procession was formed at the colored Methodist church, on Travis street, under Elias Dibble, as president; Sandy Parker, Marshal, and Richard Sessum, Deputy marshal. They marched in regular order from their church to Main street, under the protecting folds of the American flag, which waved majestically over them. The day was very fine, and the officers were appropriately dressed for the occasion.

The Order of the March.–

The order of the march was judiciously arranged, and made a fine appearance. The draymen of the city were in front, mounted on horse back, then came the old colored people, next the Freedmen’s Mutual Aid Society, then the Debating Society, next the Baptist Mutual Aid Society, after which came a promiscuous class of persons, male and female, old and young, large and small, and in this order they marched down Main street to Congress, thence on through Congress to its terminus, and from there to a beautiful grove of trees near Mr. Lockhearts. Arriving at this beautiful retreat, chosen for the barbecue, they marched round and round in several different forms for some minutes, when in the centre was erected a United States flag, around which a large crowd gathered to hear some orations from the freedmen. Not exactly understanding the order of the day, we were not on this part of the ground in time to hear the speeches so as to get the pith of them, therefore we shall pass them by.

The Crowd.–

The concourse of people here was very large, covering a space of several acres of ground. We could not form a correct estimate, but suppose there were at least 3,000 or 4,000 people present at this grand jubilee; and be it said to their great credit, of all the vast assemblies that we have had the pleasure of meeting with in life, we have never met with one of this bulk, where there was so much harmony, unanimity of feeling and sentiment; nor have we met a people, who, to all appearance, could more truthfully and feelingly repeat the following:

“Go ring the bells and fire the guns,
and fling the starry banner out;
Shout freedom, till your lisping ones
Give back a general cradle shout.”

The Dinner.–

Just before the dinner came on, while the good sisters were singing their spiritual songs, for nothing else was allowed to be sung by them,—some two or three freedmen got into a little quarrel, and made some severe threats toward each other, which we believe was about all that in the least marred the pleasures of the day. This however, was soon quelled by the principal belligerent finding himself in the hands of the law officer. Just after this unpleasant affair, dinner came on, and it was truly a tempting feast to a hungry man—just what we were—and here too the officers of the day and table managers had their hands full to keep out intruders, while we, with various companies of like stamp, partook of the large bounties prepared for us, to which we did ample justice, even more. We ate and ate until we could but exclaim with the poet. “Was ever such a happy swain, He stuffs and swills, and stuffs again.”

This was truly a bountiful dinner, and was magnificently conducted by our colored friends, the most perfect order and good behavior prevailing up to the time we were ordered to “pitch in.”

After Dinner.–

After satisfying our craving stomachs with the many “good things” we sallyed forth to see the masses as they devoured the pork, beef, and mutton which lay around in super abundance. Having abundantly satisfied ourselves that none need go away empty, we left for home, revolving in our mind the fact that it was the most novel, yet most harmonious meeting of the kind we ever attended.

The Dance.–

When we left the ground, many of them were participating in the merry dance. Late in the evening the procession was again formed, when they marched back to Main street, and up it several blocks, where the whole body dispersed, apparently well satisfied with the days proceedings.

The Ball.–

The festivities of the day were closed by a ball in the room which was formerly occupied by Messr’s. W. T. Austin & Co., under Perkins Theatre, which was tastefully ornamented and adorned with the national emblems. Here in the mazes of the merry dance, the freedmen whiled away the hours of the night. We could not remain to see the end, but learn that all passed of harmoniously. May each returning anniversary of their freedom, find them better prepared to enjoy its blessings, appreciate its privileges, and discharge its responsibilities, and learn that

“Humble toil and heavenward duty
These will form the perfect man.”

Like the Telegraph, of course, the Evening Star offered only a partial view of Houston’s first Juneteenth, seen from the perspective of a white Texan rather than from the organizers of the day.

Still, this report is bursting with important details that the Telegraph did not even care to report.

The Evening Star emphasized that freedpeople themselves were organizing the event, that tickets were being sold, and that organizers were concerned about white employers refusing to give Black Houstonians time off to celebrate emancipation.

The Star named the key leaders of the day—including Sandy Parker and Elias Dibble, who later was part of the group that helped to purchase Emancipation Park in 1872 to serve as a location for future Juneteenths in Houston. And the Star also named the location for that first barbecue: a grove near the home of Robert Lockart that later became known as Lubbock’s Grove.⁵

But the Star also made clear that Juneteenth was, from the beginning, a communal celebration, involving early Black voluntary associations and churches in Houston; Galvestonians as well as Houstonians; and both Black men and Black women—the “good sisters” who added their voices to the ceremony, and who surely took more of a leadership role than the article allowed.

This rare article, in short, raises many new lines of inquiry that connect the first Juneteenth in Houston to the classic work of Elsa Barkley Brown on postwar Black politics in the urban South, or the more recent work of Hilary N. Green on African Americans’ commemorative culture after the Civil War. There is much, much more that can be said about this primary source.⁶

It is all the more unfortunate, then, that its existence has been virtually unknown to historians for all these years. The WPA researchers who came across it clearly had an instinctive sense of its significance. Transcribers for the Houston New Deal history project often gave only brief summaries of the articles they encountered, especially when they concerned African Americans. It is significant, then, that the report in the Evening Star was copied down at length.

Yet when compilers published Houston, a History and a Guide in 1942, the book’s description of events in June 1866 was reduced to a paragraph that began like this:

Houston’s first “Juneteenth” celebration included a banquet given by the freedmen and their families, with their former mistresses and masters as guests of honor. The parade of the Firemen’s Celebration featured a float on which a beautiful girl in chains symbolized the defeated Confederacy, as reported by the Evening Star …

The paragraph showed that the authors of the finished book had read the transcriptions from the Star. But they chose to quote only the one about the firemen’s parade, and they offered a highly distorted paraphrase about the freedmen’s banquet. In short, the book silenced the evidence of Black political and social mobilization that researchers had also clearly found.⁷

The evidence itself nonetheless survived—typed on a yellowing piece of paper, and then stashed in a banker’s box, deep in a Houston archive.⁸

Today, on the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth, I hope that its publication here will inspire new research into the earliest origins of the holiday’s observance.

Happy Juneteenth!

Notes