Before Juneteenth came Florida's Emancipation Day - and Pensacola will celebrate

Troy Moon, Pensacola News Journal
·6 min read

Retired Escambia County educator Walter Gulley Jr. has taught history, social studies, African-American history and so much more. But it wasn't until a few years ago that he heard about Florida's Emancipation Day ‒ a celebration of Union Army troops arriving in Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, 11 days after the end of the Civil War, to announce that President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, issued two years earlier, was now in effect throughout the state.

"Most people have never heard about that,'' said Gulley, board president of the Ella L. Jordan African-American History Museum in Pensacola. "I'm a teacher and I didn't know until I started going over to Tallahassee."

Tallahassee has long held Emancipation Day celebrations, and after attending a few, Gulley decided to organize a Emancipation Day celebration in Pensacola. The event takes place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. May 19 at the Ella L. Jordan African-American History Museum, 423 N. C St.

The celebration will feature an appearance by members of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the United States Colored Troops Living History Association, based in Tallahassee. Regiment members will participate in a Parade of Colors and a One Gun Salute to commemorate Emancipation Day.

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The Emancipation Day celebration will include Regiment Sgt. Major Jarvis Rosier delivering a history of the 2nd United States Colored Infantry, which operated in New Orleans, Mississippi's Ship Island, Tampa, Cedar Key, Key West and many other locations across the southeast. The Regiment will appear at Pensacola's Emancipation Day celebration on May 19 ‒ a Sunday ‒ and then appear at Tallahassee's annual, and larger, Emancipation Day celebration on May 20.

The Pensacola celebration will also include various people in Union Army uniform portraying various key people in Florida's Emancipation Day.

Gulley will portray Major Gen. Quincy Gillmore, whose "Special Order 63" had just arrived in Tallahassee stating that "the people of the Black race are free citizens of the United States."

"I can see this being an emotional event,'' Gulley said. "But it is a celebration. It's definitely a celebration."

Emancipation Day has been celebrated informally nationwide by many African Americans on Jan. 1, celebrating the Jan. 1, 1863, date when President Lincoln issued Proclamation 95 changing the legal status of slaves to free people. In Florida, the state's own Emancipation Day has also had informal and more formal celebrations through the ages, said Pensacola City Council member Teniadè Broughton.

"Back in the 1800s, there were church events and smaller events taking place,'' Broughton said. "There would be little park cookouts, family reunions, because emancipation was the first Black family reunion. They had been sold away from another, and now they were able to find their family members again. That's what emancipation represents."

There were some early Emancipation Day events in Pensacola that were larger. A May 1901 Pensacola News article previewed the city's upcoming celebration, which included a community picnic, a trolley parade and which advertised discounted railroad rates for visitors in Birmingham, Ala., and areas across the far reaches of the Florida Panhandle.

Florida's Emancipation Day preceded the June 19, 1865, final reinforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation ‒ this time in Texas ‒ that is now celebrated as the Juneteenth national holiday.

Broughton is an organizer of the fourth Journey to Juneteenth commemoration in Pensacola, which features a host of events running from Florida's Emancipation Day to Juneteenth.

One of those is the Watson Family Foundation Juneteenth Celebration of the Culture festival from noon to 6:30 p.m. on June 15 at Museum Plaza, 330 S. Jefferson St. The event will feature live music and dance performances, art and African clothing vendors, children's area and obstacle course, and games for folks to play ranging from dominos to spades.

Other events include:

  • Hart’s Hammock & Archaeological Park Exhibit Preview of the archaeological remains of former slave Charles Hart on the grounds of the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum. May 19, at 2 p.m. at the Pensacola Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, 2081 Radford Blvd.

  • Pins and Needles “Freedom Quilts” Sewing Class. 10 a.m., June 8 at 2400 W. Michigan Ave.

  • Noire Investment Group Financial Summit, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., June 14 at DeVilliers Square, 321 N. DeVilliers Street.

  • Daughters of the American Revolution and African American Heritage Society "Ferry Ride to Freedom", 10 a.m., June 15. Ride will begin at the Pensacola Bay City Ferry dock, 750 S. Commendencia St. The ferry will travel to Fort Pickens, which is part of the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Tickets are $30.

  • Real Women Radio's Juneteenth Gospel Tribute "A Celebration of Freedom and Resilience,'' 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. June 15 at Old Christ Church, 405 S. Adams Street.

  • Celebrating the Culture and Diversity of Pensacola Roundtable Discussion, hosted by Visit Pensacola from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 18 at the Voices of Pensacola Multicultural Center, 117 E Government Street.

Broughton said it is important to remember both Juneteenth and the Florida Emancipation Days.

"We want people to celebrate Emancipation Day, but this gives them an opportunity to expand it to Juneteenth,'' she said. "It's a whole season to celebrate."

Robert Overton, executive director of the University of West Florida Historic Trust, will participate in the Emancipation Day event at the Ella Jordan African-American History Museum and portray a Union officer.

"For a long time, many people weren't familiar with Juneteenth but now it's known and a national holiday,'' Overton said. "It's been much of the same for Emancipation Day in Florida ‒ a lot of people just weren't familiar with it. But it is part of our history, our local history, and did begin a new chapter for all Americans."

Rosier said members of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the United States Colored Troops Living History Association are looking forward to the Pensacola visit, which is just part of a full-week of activities for the group.

"Juneteenth was good for Texas,'' said Rosier, a retired U.S. Army sergeant major. "But May 20 is specific for Florida. We're want to see the significance of that day spread north, east, south and west."

He said that the day is important for all Floridians.

"If one is enslaved,'' he said, "then we all are enslaved."

For more information, go to www.ellajordanhome.com or visit www.visitpensacola.com/events/holidays/juneteenth/.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida Emancipation Day in Pensacola celebrated on May 19 2024