Tupelo Juneteenth celebration

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- Juneteenth might be over, but some communities are still celebrating.

Gum Tree Park was the site of a parade and festival celebrating the historic day.

On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston Texas to tell people that the Civil War had ended several months earlier and the slaves had been freed since President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

Unfortunately, word didn’t reach Texas, where many slaves owners took their slaves in order to hold on to them longer.

Tupelo Councilwoman Nettie Davis says it is an important time for all Americans to remember.

“Slavery is not a good thing for anybody. And it’s a way of keeping control of people, keeping them in bondage. And being free to do what you feel in your thinking in your everyday life is a blessing when you have that to do it,” said Davis.

Forty-six states including Mississippi as well as the District of Columbia, officially recognize Juneteenth as either a state holiday or a ceremonial day of observance.