On this day, June 19th, in 1865 the last of the nations slaves were formally freed as word of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclaimation of 1862 finally reached the deep south at the port city of Galveston, some two months after the final surrender of the Civil War. Known since as Juneteenth, it is a holiday now celebrated in more than 40 states around the US.
Festivities are planned for Houston tonight at Miller Outdoor theater, and in Galveston throughout the day.