From Watch Night to Juneteenth
- Jane Hoskinson
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
Emancipation Celebrations
In June 2023 at Old Jefferson Town, an exhibit by Sonya Boldridge, Patty Boldridge, and Leanne Chapman displayed local newspaper articles chronicling celebrations of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Emancipation Proclamation: The announcement made by President Lincoln during the Civil War on September 22, 1862, emancipating all slaves in states still engaged in rebellion against the Union. Although implementation was strictly beyond Lincoln’s powers, the declaration turned the war into a declaration against slavery. It went into effect on January 1, 1863.
The African-American communities in Jefferson county for many years celebrated Emancipation on the 22nd of September as you will see in some of the newspaper articles over the years.
Not only the African-American families but many white citizens participated in the celebrations as the food was very good for all to enjoy.
Editor’s note: Emancipation has been celebrated in the United States on many different dates. New York emancipated its enslaved people on July 5, 1827, and the Fifth of July was solemnly observed as Black Independence Day. In the 1840s and ’50s, free black Americans celebrated British emancipation in the West Indies on August 1. The District of Columbia still observes April 16, when President Abraham Lincoln freed D.C.’s enslaved people in 1862. Free and enslaved black Americans celebrated Watch Night, New Year’s Eve 1862, waiting for Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to take effect on January 1, 1863. After the Civil War, the most popular date was September 22, when Lincoln had first issued the proclamation. Many states celebrated other dates, the best known being June 19, 1865, in Texas — Juneteenth — which became a federal holiday in 2021. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Day)
This article appeared in "Yesteryears" in October 2023. https://www.jchsks.com/publications
