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Today is Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19^th to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday’s name, first used in the 1890s, is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, referring to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War.  Source:  Wikipedia

From the balcony of Galveston’s Ashton Villa, General Gordon read the contents of General Order Number Three: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”  Source “Writer’s Almanac”

Higher Works Collaborative has arranged for a local celebration of Juneteenth at Lake George in beautiful downtown St. Cloud on the south side of Lake George today from noon until 7pm.  I hope to see you there.