GALVESTON, Texas – Growing up in nearby Bryan-College Station — Juneteenth was something I celebrated as far back as I can remember as a child.
It’s the day enslaved people in Galveston learned they were free, more than two years after the emancipation proclamation. Texas started to honor the day 46-years ago.
To see more Americans observe the holiday in recent years has been wonderful to see.
There is another way to learn about the holiday down on Galveston Island — that will take you on an amazing ride through history.
It’s a step inside a 161-year-old lesson — a different and relatively new way to see Galveston — and discover the history of Juneteenth.
Dr. Araminta Sorrell’s Juneteenth and Beyond Guided Van Tour is her way of educating and commemorating the historical meaning of the day.
“The last person sold here in Galveston was sold in May of 1865,” said Sorrell from the driver’s seat of her van. “The war ended in April of 1865, but because there weren’t any troops here to enforce the emancipation proclamation, it was business as usual.”
The tour’s first stop is the first place freed slaves marched to in order to worship after their newly realized freedom: Reedy Chapel AME Church.
Other stops include the Old Central Cultural Center — the site of the old Central High School. There is Jack Johnson Park — and the historic Avenue L Baptist Church.
Along the Strand is the Absolute Equality mural. In just a matter of years it has become one of the most iconic landmarks in all of Galveston. The mural is attached to the Nia Cultural Center.
Visitors explore the cultural center year-round — with activity peaking during the month of June.
They see history and art unique to Galveston and Juneteenth — including the red, white, and blue official Juneteenth flag.
“It’s what the ancestors wanted. They wanted to be Americans,” said Sorrell. “They wanted the Constitution to apply to them. That’s what they were interested in.”
The typical tour lasts about an hour. For Dr. Sorrell it is a passion project to reveal the labor, dignity, and triumphs of her beloved ancestors.
“Galveston has a tremendous wealth of African American history,” she said. “That’s why I started this business when I retired.”