Friday, May 12, and Monday, May 16
Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Emancipation Day in Florida is May 20, and Jefferson County has a long tradition of events to celebrate the freeing of slaves in our state.
This year, events organized by Monticello's Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center will begin the celebration on Friday, May 12, with a program at Jefferson County K-12, beginning at 10 a.m., to educate students about the history of the local observance of Emancipation Day in Monticello.
Then on Monday, May 15 – a school holiday in the county – the celebration continues with a parade through downtown Monticello followed by an afternoon of festivities at the Martin Luther King Community Center. The parade moves out at 11 a.m., and parade entrants should line up at Capital City Bank, located at 800 S. Jefferson St., beginning at 10:30 a.m., as directed by MLK Center President Charles Parrish. There is no fee for participation; if you want to be in the parade just come to the line-up by 10:30 a.m.
Spectators can view the parade from along either side of the streets as the parade moves on South Jefferson Street from Capital City Bank toward the Courthouse, turns right onto East Washington Street and then right again onto Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. The parade will end at the MLK Center, located at 1420 1st St. A free lunch will be provided there while the food lasts.
Many activities are planned for the afternoon of May 15 at the center, including a skit/talent show, an art show and sale on the grounds, a library book give-away, a performance by the drum line, presentation of the colors by the JROTC Color Guard, presentation by Capt. John Nelson and lots of fun games, such as bean bag toss, horseshoes, volleyball, cards, dominoes, musical chairs and bingo. There will also be a checkers tournament, and anyone who wants to participate in this competition is asked to call Ken Robinson at (850) 491-8533 by Friday, May 12, to sign up and be placed in the brackets.
Emancipation Day is celebrated across the United States to recognize and remember Abraham Lincoln signing the Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862. At the beginning of 1860, there were about four million slaves in the United States. The Compensated Emancipation Act – which freed approximately 3,000 slaves in the District of Columbia – didn’t, however, resolve the larger issue of slavery in the United States. It wasn't until the end of the Civil War in 1865 that the Thirteenth Amendment was proposed to end slavery in the United States. It was ratified by 30 of the 36 states that year.
In 2005, Emancipation Day was made a public holiday in the District of Columbia. While it is celebrated all over the U.S., it is not celebrated everywhere on April 16. In Florida, it’s celebrated on May 20, in recognition of May 20, 1865, when Union Brigadier General Edward McCook held a ceremony announcing President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, formally freeing slaves in Florida. In Texas, it’s celebrated on June 19, and in Puerto Rico it’s celebrated on March 22.
Emancipation Day is also celebrated on different days in many Caribbean countries. These include Anguilla, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands. However, since many of these Caribbean countries were British possessions, they celebrate their Emancipation Day on Aug. 1 because that is when slavery was abolished in the U.K. In 1834.
For more information about the MLK Jr. Center's Emancipation Day events on May 12 and 15, call Parrish at (850) 997-3760.