JUNE 19
It used to take a while for news to travel, even such important news as the Emancipation Proclamation. On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the proclamation was enacted and more than two months after the Civil War ended, a Union army commander told a Galveston, Texas, crowd that all slaves were freed. This made Galveston the site of one of the first readings of the proclamation in the South.
The event, given the name Juneteenth, has been celebrated in Galveston ever since. The holiday has spread to communities across the country, but the city still hosts one of the largest celebrations, which includes the reading of the proclamation, prayer services, parades, concerts, and other activities. In 1979, the Texas legislature established Juneteenth as a state holiday.
Family and community picnics are commonplace on Juneteenth, which means that there’s lots of good old southern dishes around. You’ll see a lot of red foods, too. According to African American food historian Adrian Miller, the reason for the red foods is unknown, but it may have something to do with the fact that a number of traditional African drinks are red and with the importance of the color red in African society.