Day 1: Juneteenth in the City of Hills
Today we start across the bridge from lament to freedom, the Black community in Lynchburg leading the way with a long weekend of celebration. For over the last twenty years, leaders and organizers in Lynchburg have engaged the community in a rich tradition of Juneteenth song, dance, readings, and community service projects.
They have conducted blood drives, announced scholarships, beautified the city, taught safety and wellness and given health fairs, just as Victoria Reese, the Director of the Lynchburg Red Cross, envisioned in 2000 when she initiated the city’s first Juneteenth event. Phyllistine Mosley, chair of today’s Lynchburg Juneteenth Coalition, continues the effort as the Coalition — in partnership with other community pillars like the Legacy Museum, Old City Cemetery, Court Street Baptist Church, and the Academy Center of the Arts — brings us music, this year’s theme.
June 19th, largely known as “Juneteenth”, is also referred to as Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day, or Emancipation Day. The name combines “June” and “nineteen”, from the actual June 19, 1865, commemorative date, when news came to Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended.
On this day, under the new command of Major General Gordon Granger, General Order No. 3 was issued and read to the people of Texas, reaffirming that ALL enslaved people were free. This formal acknowledgement led to a migration of Black Americans from their former enslaved areas to other parts of the country, where they carried the message and celebrations of Juneteenth with them.
In 2007, the State of Virginia designated the third Saturday in June as Juneteenth Freedom Day. In 2020, the state holiday was set on the actual day of June 19th. This weekend, the Lynchburg Juneteenth Coalition continued their tradition of using Miller Park, a place of historical significance to the Black community, as the setting for their annual Saturday Juneteenth event, an intended parallel to the historical Juneteenth activities of Texas’s Emancipation Park in Houston.
In June of 2020, Lynchburg City Council voted to formally recognize Juneteenth as a holiday, one year before the federal government officially signed Juneteenth into law. “It means a whole lot that we’re finally being acknowledged and recognized for what happened to our ancestors in our past,” said Phyllistine Mosley, Chair of the 2020 Lynchburg Juneteenth Coalition.
As we cross this sixteen-day Bridge of Lament, we are also acknowledging and recognizing the city’s past. As you read our daily posts and reflect on our city’s history with us, please also take time to support Black-owned businesses and appreciate local Black Arts and Culture.
“It means a whole lot that we’re finally being acknowledged and recognized for what happened to our ancestors in our past”
Black-owned businesses in downtown Lynchburg:
Downtown Lynchburg Association
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A Virginia Timeline:
🚩1619 — The White Lion ship brings the first enslaved Africans to Virginia
🚩1705 — Act Concerning Servants and Slaves consolidates various laws into a single Virginia slave code
🚩1787 — The US Constitution is written with the “3/5ths compromise”
🚩1863 — Emancipation Proclamation
🚩1865 — General Granger announces end of slavery in Galveston, Texas
🚩1866 — First Juneteenth celebrations held by freedmen in Texas
🚩1872 — Freemen purchase land for Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas
🚩1936 — Texas Centennial Exposition features Negro Day and Juneteenth events
🚩1969 — Poor People’s March in Washington, DC, coincides with Juneteenth
🚩1979 — Texas becomes first state to make Juneteenth an official holiday
🚩2000 — Lynchburg Red Cross starts first Juneteenth events in Lynchburg
🚩2007 — Virginia recognizes the third Saturday in June as Juneteenth Freedom Day
🚩2020 — Lynchburg City Council establishes June 19th as a city holiday. The State of Virginia follows suit in October. The US Government signs June 19th into law as a federal holiday one year later.