Today is Juneteenth—commemorating 19 June 1865—when Union officer, Major General Gordon Granger, rode into Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation (two and a half years after it went into effect). It is an exceptional date, marking a big step in America's (often slow) march to freedom, which makes it an important holiday for all Americans. Juneteenth bookends a two week period, together with Independence Day—two days of significance for the American Promise.
The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, which went into effect on 1 January 1863. This executive order designated that enslaved people (but only those in the Confederate states) were now free. Because the Union did not have control of all of these places, the practical impact was not immediately realized. Release from slavery unfolded sporadically—usually as the Union troops arrived and enforced the order. But the Emancipation Proclamation did change the technical legal status of the enslaved, even while their practical circumstances often remained unchanged. It was not until Congress ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, on 6 December 1865, that slavery officially became illegal throughout the entire United States.
19 June was celebrated the very next year (in 1866 and ever since). Gatherings usually were organized within community and church groups—initially throughout the South, then nationwide as the Great Migration headed North. The name, "Juneteenth" (a portmanteau of "June" and "Nineteenth") was not coined until the 1890's. From the beginning, celebrations have focussed on food, relaxation, family gatherings and other community activities (education, festivals, picnics, parades, sporting events, even rodeos). In 2021, Congress declared Juneteenth a Federal Holiday which President Joe Biden signed into law.
The bronze sculpture, shown above, was created by artist Luke Gwilliam in the 1950's. It portrays a lithe man, removing his constricting garments—perhaps symbolic of an enslaved person freeing him or herself from the binding restraints of a previous life. Gwilliam studied art at the Worcester Museum of Art and moved to New York in 1951 where he joined the Manhattan art scene. He is best known for his abstract paintings and exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum and other museums and galleries. He was also photographed by George Platt Lynes.
Please contact us if you're interested in learning more about this sculpture. (917-446-4248)
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.