June 19, 1865
On this day in 1865, Union general Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation (originally issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863) in Galveston, thus belatedly bringing about the freeing of 250,000 slaves in Texas. The event, now celebrated as “Juneteenth,” eventually gave rise to an annual day of thanksgiving ceremonies, public entertainment, picnics, and family reunions. Some communities have set aside land, known as Emancipation Parks, for celebrations on Juneteenth. In 1979 Governor William P. Clements signed an act making the day a state holiday. The first state-sponsored Juneteenth celebration took place the next year.
June 19, 1954
The San Antonio City Council voted to ban people of color from city swimming pools, making law of a de facto segregation that had existed for 90-plus years. This was just a month after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision that desegregated the public schools. Coincidence? The law would be repealed two years later, on March 16, 1956.
