On June 19, 1865 Union General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas. Two and a half years before Granger arrived, President Abraham Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation that legally freed three and a half million enslaved people in Confederate states. But it wasn’t until federal troops finally arrived to occupy Galveston that Granger issued General Orders No. 3, which came to be called the Juneteenth Order, that liberated 250,000 enslaved Blacks in Texas. Texas was the last stop for Union troops who had been marching across the Confederate South and freeing slaves as they went.
In the years that followed, Black communities, first in Texas and then across the United States, gathered to mark the day that became commonly known as Juneteenth.
In 2021, the Juneteenth Legacy Project is marked this day with the unveiling of a 5000-square-foot public art mural that overlooks the site where Granger issued General Order No. 3. It faces a parking lot that was formerly Union soldier headquarters at the corner of Strand and 22nd streets.
The intent behind this installation—called Absolute Equality—is to reconsider the role of monuments and memorials in telling pivotal moments in American history, while emphasizing, as a Legacy Project advisor remarked, “Absolute equality is not about equal results but about creating a society that supports all to become their very best selves to benefit a collective community.”
At the same site is a plaque, installed by the Texas Historical Commission in 2014. It is inscribed:
“Commemorated annually on June 19th, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Sep. 22, 1862, announced, “That on the 1st day of January. A.D. 1863, all person held as slaves within any state…in rebellion against the U.S. shall be then, thenceforward and forever free.” However, it would take the Civil War and passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to end the brutal institution of African American slavery.
“After the Civil War ended in April 1865 most slaves in Texas were still unaware of their freedom. This began to change when Union troops arrived in Galveston. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, commanding officer, District of Texas, from his headquarters in the Osterman building (Strand and 22nd St.), read ‘General Order No. 3’ on June 19, 1865. The order stated “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.” With this notice, reconstruction era Texas began.
“Freed African Americans observed “Emancipation Day,” as it was first known, as early as 1866 in Galveston. As community gatherings grew across Texas, celebrations included parades, prayer, singing and readings of the proclamation. In the mid-20th century, community celebrations gave way to more private commemorations. A re-emergence of public observance helped Juneteenth become a state holiday in 1979. Initially observed in Texas, this landmark event’s legacy is evident today by worldwide commemorations that celebrate freedom and the triumph of the human spirit.”
