Summary: Juneteenth Holiday Lobbyist Rev. R. Meyers M.D. on The 150th Emancipation Proclamation Celebration. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army announced to the assembled crowd at Ashton Villa in Galveston, Texas, "In accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." It was June 19, 1865. Juneteenth, started as a celebration of emancipation day in Texas and with the help of Rev. Meyres it spread to other states. The celebration dates back to 1866. "America cannot understand its own history unless the African-American experience is embraced as a central factor in shaping who we are and what we have become as Americans," writes Lonnie G. Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington.Set to open in 2015, the museum will be the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, art and culture.
