Madison celebrates Juneteenth

The City of Madison held a parade and festival on Saturday, June 17, to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday that followed on Monday.

Mayor Fred Perriman was at the center of the event greeting those in attendance with his customary warmth and geniality.

Juneteenth celebrates the day Major General Gordon Granger issued an order to the people of Texas – some of whom were still resisting after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox – informing them that all slaves had been freed.

The first Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, celebration took place on June 19, 1866.

“Juneteenth was established in 2021 as a federal holiday, opening it to symbolic and global interpretation and providing a better understanding of the evolution of our nation and its people,” according to the National Museum of African American History & Culture’s Smithsonian Institute website. “Juneteenth celebrations then, like now, recognize the ongoing fight for human rights and equality and are commemorated through family cookouts, faith services, musical performances, and storytelling. Today, Juneteenth celebrates African American resilience and achievement while aiding in the preservation of those historical narratives that promoted racial and personal advancement since Freedom Day.”