St. Louis’ Juneteenth Celebration in Fountain Park June 19-21
St. Louis was sympathetic to the Union but slaves were bought & sold in St. Louis in the 19th Century. Humans being treated as property. Beyond me how slavery ever existed in a “civilized” society.
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. (Source: juneteenth.com)
History buffs will correctly note that the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863:
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. (Source: Wikipedia)
So two and a half years later troops enforced the proclamation. In St. Louis the celebration will take place in Fountain Park (map):
June 19-21, 2009 – Neighbors of Fountain Park Association – will celebrate its third annual Juneteenth Community Awareness Event As Neighbors of Fountain Park Association our mission is to empower, educate and promote healthy living by connecting the community to resources. the weekend is dedicated to making a difference in the community. The Event will host live music, guest speakers,children activities, free food, community education resources, voter registration and much more…
Location: Fountain Park St. Louis, Missouri
Dates: Friday June 19th 3:00p.m.-9:00p.m
Saturday June 20th 9:00a.m.-9:00p.m.
Sunday June 21st 10:30a.m.-8:00p.m.
Activities: games, face painting, entertainments groups, and guest speakers.
I’m going to stop by on my way to the screening of scenes from the upcoming documentary on Pruitt-Igoe (see post).
– Steve Patterson
“St. Louis was sympathetic to the Union”….not really. While Missouri was a slave state, it wasn’t a member of the Confederacy (see: Missouri Compromise). St Louis was probably more accuratly 50-50 on the subject. Aside from some skirmishes here and there, it was pretty much a standoff during the Civil War. Some tense times locally.
St. Louis WAS mostly pro-union. Mostly, but not all. the rest of Missouri was more pro-secession. A brief history lesson is necessary here.
In 1860, Missouri elected Claiborn Fox Jackson governor. Although he ran as a Stephen Douglas Democrat, he declared for secession at his inauguration. The state legislature passed a bill calling for an election for a constitutional convention to decide whether to stay in the union. This is the path South Carolina and other states that joined the Confederacy followed. However, in the election for delegates, a group led by German immigrant-abolitionists along with local politicians like Congressman Frank Blair and future Governor B. Gratz Brown carried the day in the election and the convention voted to stay in the union.
Still Governor Jackson and the state legislature intended to secede. The Missouri Volunteer Militia, massed at Camp Jackson, where St. Louis University is now and intended to take over the pro-union arsenal in St. Louis. However, they were waiting for arms from the Confederacy before launching their assault.
The commander of the federal arsenal, Gen. Nataniel Lyon, however launched columns of troops, both regular army and pro-Union militias, marched on Camp Jackson and took the Camp without firing a shot and put the troops there in Jail.
Jackson and the legislature remained in favor of secession. Later Lyon’s troops would drive them out of the state. They installed Hamilton Gamble, a pro-Union slaveowner who chaired the convention as Missouri’s new governor.
The legislature reconvened in Marshall, Texas, where it pretended to run the state from exile. That legislature sent delegates to the Confederate Congress and was recognized as part of the Confederacy while a pro-Union legislature convened in Jefferson City for the duration of the Civil War. While pro-Confederate guerillas–most notoriously Jesse James–waged a war on pro-Union civilians throughout the Civil War, St. Louis remained securely in Union hands with strong local support.
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