Juneteenth recalls end of slavery

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By Dawn Feddersen | Tuesday, June 20, 2006 7:01 AM CDT | () comments

Photos by Larry Fisher/QUAD-CITY TIMES Shellie Moore-Guy gives a dramatic poetry reading during the Juneteenth celebration Monday at Herington Park in Davenport. Below: Children from the United Neighbors Inc. summer parks program watch performers during the annual celebration.

JUNE 19 has been observed for 141 years as a day marking the end of slavery in the United States, and United Neighbors began celebrating the date, known as Juneteenth, eight years ago in Davenport.

“If you don’t know the past, there’s no way you can make a better future,” said Ida Johnson, director of United Neighbors.

Juneteenth marks the anniversary of June 19, 1865, the day when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the Civil War was over, and American slaves were free.

President Abraham Lincoln actually had signed the Emancipation Proclamation about 2 1/2 years earlier, but there were few Union troops in Texas to enforce the executive order until a regiment led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived to enforce the law.

This year’s Juneteenth festivities were held Monday at Herington Park in Davenport, attracting a crowd of all ages that numbered in the hundreds.

More than 300 children enrolled in United Neighbors’ summer camps helped celebrate the occasion. After

taking some wild turns in the “bounce house,” they were front and center for many moving speeches on the past, present and future of African Americans.

“Young people need to know what their ancestors went through. Years ago, black folks couldn’t even gather in large groups in public like this,” Johnson said.

Willie Hester sees Juneteenth as a reminder of how far race relations in America have come.

“I was brought up in some tough times, and my parents saw some really tough times. You see so many young black folks nowadays who are enjoying everything they have now. I hope they realize that life wasn’t always so good,” he said.

A retired teacher, Hester wanted the many young people at the event to walk away with something to think about.

“Hopefully, they’ll see all the people who are involved in different groups and doing something important with their lives, and that idea will stick in their brains and they’ll leave here with a different image of what they can be.”

Contact the city desk at (563) 383-2245 or newsroom@qctimes.com.