File #: 19-594    Version: 1 Name:
Type: Proclamation Status: Passed
File created: 5/20/2019 In control: City Commission
On agenda: 6/4/2019 Final action: 6/4/2019
Title: OBSERVANCE OF JUNETEENTH
Sponsors: City Clerk Department
Attachments: 1. Agenda Cover Report, 2. Juneteenth Proclamation

TO:                                          Mayor and Commissioners

FROM:                     Katerri Johnson, City Clerk

THROUGH:                     Neal de Jesus, Interim City Manager

DATE:                     June 4, 2019

 

Title

OBSERVANCE OF JUNETEENTH

 

Body

Recommended Action:

Recommendation

Motion to observe Juneteenth on June 19th as the celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.

 

Body

Background:

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.