JUNETEENTH SUMMER 2024 | Now Archived

“Be True To What You Said on Paper”

Our summer exhibition, titled “Be True to What You Said on Paper” – a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – commemorates Juneteenth. On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, nearly two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, to announce the freedom of enslaved Africans in America. The exhibition showcases the Juneteenth flag, designed by activist Ben Haith, featuring a red, white, and blue design with a central white star. Visitors can also download the Juneteenth Fact Sheet from the United States Congressional Research Service. Juneteenth Fact Sheet.

Despite persistent discrimination, African Americans in Texas continue to fight for civil rights and make a meaningful impact. Juneteenth is far more than a mere celebratory day – it commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people, their hardships during Reconstruction, the emergence of sharecropping, and the Great Migration. Grasping the full significance of Juneteenth requires delving beyond just the date of the holiday; it represents a crucial chapter in American history.

“We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.”
– Carter Woodson, 1926, historian

VINTAGE JUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS

IN TEXAS & THE UNITED STATES

Juneteenth Flag, Designed by activist Ben Haith
Group posing in front of a shop at E. Main Street near 21st Street in Richmond, Virginia on Juneteenth, ca. 1900 — Source
Group of elderly people on Juneteenth. Photograph by Grace Murray Stephenson of celebrations in Eastwoods Park, Austin, 1900. — Source
Group of children on Juneteenth. Photograph by Grace Murray Stephenson of celebrations in Eastwoods Park, Austin, 1900. — Source
Photograph of Juneteenth celebrations in Richmond, Virginia, ca. 1905 — Source
Detail from a photograph of celebrations in Richmond, Virginia, ca. 1905 — Source
Group of men in Civil War uniforms, likely for a re-enactment of the Union’s entry into Galveston. Photograph by Grace Murray Stephenson of Juneteenth celebrations in Eastwood Park, Austin, 1900. — Source
Two women and a man in a decorated carriage. Photograph by George McCuistion of Juneteenth celebrations in in Corpus Christi, Texas, 1913. — Source
Martha Yates Jones (left) and Pinkie Yates (right), daughters of Rev. Jack Yates, in a decorated carriage in front of a house, 1908 — Source
General Orders, No. 3. Dallas Herald (Dallas, Tex.), July 01, 1865, Image 2, col. 3. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Serial & Government Publications Division