Juneteenth festivities in Marshall feature historical tribute

MARSHALL, Texas (KTAL/KMSS) — Several free-to-the-public Juneteenth events are planned in Marshall this year.

Juneteenth is a celebration that marks the day, June 19, 1965, that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed slaves there that they had been freed. Official Juneteenth celebrations began the very next year. As black Texans began to move across the country, the celebration traveled with them, unofficially being used to commemorate the end of slavery.

The Marshall-Harrison County Juneteenth Committee is presenting Freedom Day events.

June 14 will feature a Commemoration program at the Wiley University Julius S. Scott Senior Chapel at 10 a.m., followed by a Juneteenth parade beginning at the Alumni Gym and concluding at the George Washington Carver Center at 11 a.m. A four-wheeler competition follows the parade at the George Washington Carver Center at noon, a business expo and Wiley Financial Literacy Kick Off at 12:30, and the Bo Green Domino Tournament concludes the day’s events at 2 p.m.

On June 19 at 8 a.m., there will be a Freedom Walk at the Harrison County Historic Courthouse.

The Marshall Juneteenth Freedom Day events are sponsored by Wiley University and supported by the Marshall Regional Arts Council, Top Ladies of Distinction, Top Teens of America, the Carver Center, Greens Professional Services, and the East Texas Chapter of Links, Incorporated.