BLYTHEWOOD – The second annual Blythewood Juneteenth celebration is set for Sat., June 10, from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., at Doko Meadows Park.
Sponsored by Blythewood Cigar and Wine Lounge and the Town of Blythewood, the event will include many vendors selling everything from arts and crafts and commemorative items to food and beverages.
The event is free and the public is invited.
There will be live entertainment for the family-friendly event.
Juneteenth, established on June 19, 2021, is the newest federal holiday in the calendar. Its origins, however, date to the final weeks of the Civil War.
The commemoration arose from the freeing of slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865, eleven weeks after the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
The act helped fulfill the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln on Sept. 22, 1862. It took effect on Jan. 1, 1863.
But it took a while for that freedom to come to much of the nation, including Texas.
By 1865, some 250,000 blacks remained enslaved in Texas, even as the end of the war was imminent. Finally, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston on June 19, 1865 to assume command of a Union force of 2,000 troops.
That same day, Granger declared that, “in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
Texas became the first to officially establish Juneteenth as a state holiday. Today it’s celebrated across the nation.
Doko Meadows Park is located at 171 Langford Road in Blythewood.