A History of Juneteenth/Emancipation Day Celebrations in Bossier Parish

 Next Monday, June 19th, is now a Federal holiday. That day marks the celebration of Juneteenth, a holiday that has a lengthy history in Bossier Parish. Juneteenth recognizes the day in 1865 when the enslaved men & women in Galveston, TX learned that they were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Historically, Juneteenth has often been considered a “Texas holiday,” though newspaper articles going back to the late 19th century give evidence of the holiday’s celebration among African-American residents of Bossier Parish, either celebrating in the parish or taking advantage of the local railroads’ discount tickets to join regional celebrations, such as in Boyce, LA or Stamps, AR. Most of the 19th century to mid-20th century local newspapers refer to the holiday as Emancipation Day. (You may also sometimes hear the holiday called Freedom Day or Liberation Day).

The “Bossier Banner-Progress” newspaper wrote that about five or six hundred celebrants gathered at Princeton for a big barbecue and baseball games. In 1924, the “Bossier Banner” wrote of a large Emancipation Day party held in the Seven Pines community, which is several miles northeast of Benton, that featured barbecued meats, music, and dancing. In 1934, the “Plain Dealing Progress” reported that no less than five hundred people attended an Emancipation Day gathering to participate in ball games, dances and other celebrations.

In an oral history interview, Rev. Carl Hawkins, who grew up in Bossier Parish in the 1930s & 40s, notes that, "We would have picnics and barbecue; most of the churches would have some type of activities going on." Bessie Rhodes, in her oral history, remembers baseball games on Juneteenth in the 1930s. "The 19th of June was our celebration and I loved the ballgames. We’d have a big old thing!" John Williams considered the meal served on June 19th, when he was growing up in Koran, as his family’s equivalent of a Thanksgiving feast.

Starting in the 1990s, Rev. Donald Rushing, at the Red River Missionary Baptist Church in Bossier City, hosted a Juneteenth festival called the “Black-Eyed Pea Festival” with music, craft booths, food, and historical information and artifacts. Sadly, Reverend Rushing passed away August 23, 2021, but there are now several events held on both sides of the Red River, including the “Let the Good Times Roll” music festival in Shreveport.

Come get out of the heat and visit the History Center to share your own family’s stories of Juneteenth, or peruse our oral history or newspaper collections to discover more stories. Just don’t come on Monday, June 19th - the library will be closed for Juneteenth!

The Bossier Parish Libraries History Center is located at 2206 Beckett St, Bossier City, LA. We are open M-Th 10-8 (but CLOSED next Friday, 6/16/2023), Fri 10-6, and Sat 10-5. Our phone number is (318) 746-7717 and our email is history-center@bossierlibrary.org

For other fun facts, photos, and videos, be sure to follow us @BPLHistoryCenter on FB, @bplhistorycenter on TikTok.

Images: Railroad advertisement of special rates for Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) from the Shreveport Journal, Monday, June 18, 1917

Baseball was a popular entertainment at Emancipation Day celebrations. Unidentified man playing baseball in Bellevue area, Bossier Parish, 1930. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Leona Raymond and the Bossier Parish Libraries History Center

Article by: Pam Carlisle