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May 20th is Florida’s Emancipation Day. Here’s how to celebrate in South Florida

For nearly 160 years, Black Americans have celebrated May 20 as Florida's Emancipation Day. In this photo, clarinetist Raymond Kelton plays in an annual Emancipation Day parade in St. Augustine circa 1922.
Richard A. Twine
/
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
For nearly 160 years, Black Americans have celebrated May 20 as Florida's Emancipation Day. In this photo, clarinetist Raymond Kelton plays in an annual Emancipation Day parade in St. Augustine circa 1922.

For Floridians, commemorating the 20th of May should be “right up there with celebrating the Fourth of July.”

That’s the hope of Dr. Tameka Bradley Hobbs, the Library Regional Manager of the African American Research and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale. She’s part of a statewide initiative to celebrate Florida’s Emancipation Day, which marks the moment when Union Gen. Edward McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation in Tallahassee on May 20, 1865 — officially declaring that enslaved people in Florida were free.

There’s “nearly 160 years of this tradition being kept alive in the state of Florida,” Hobbs said. “It deserves to be understood and it deserves to be celebrated.”

For more generations, Black Floridians have marked Emancipation Day with parades, fellowship and food — coming together to commemorate the legal recognition of their humanity and the expansion of America’s multiracial democracy.

Celebrations included “parades … speeches by newly-elected Black officials, a new reality for Black people as they’re brought into the body politic,” Hobbs said. “People have very fond memories of fresh-squeezed lemonade, baseball games, the plaiting of the may pole.”

This year, communities across the state are holding their own 20th of May activities, including a reenactment of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Knott House Museum in Tallahassee — which will be livestreamed on social media.

Reenactors recreate a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Knott House Museum in Tallahassee in 2015.
Sara Brockmann
/
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
Reenactors recreate a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Knott House Museum in Tallahassee in 2015.

The African American Research and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale is also hosting a series of events on May 19th and 20th to celebrate the history of freedom in the U.S. and in Haiti.

One of the earliest known celebrations of Emancipation Day in Florida was in Key West on January 29, 1863 — coming earlier than many other communities because the Keys were under the control of the Union Army.

While President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863, it was unenforceable in much of the country until after the Confederates surrendered on April 9, 1865.

When Black communities were actually delivered the news of their freedom depended on how long it took Union troops to reach them and enforce it. Juneteenth marks the day when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger formally declared the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, were free on June 19, 1865.

Since Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in 2021, Hobbs says it's even more important for Floridians to not overlook their own history of the state’s Emancipation Day.

“It is really wonderful now to have a day on the calendar that marks when our democracy expanded to include my ancestors,” she said. “But Florida's history is also very important for us to recognize and keep that tradition alive as well.”

Hobbs says the recent efforts to restrict the teaching of American history — and specifically Black history — underscore the importance of safeguarding and sharing knowledge around the country’s darkest chapters, and how those legacies continue to shape the nation today.

“For many of the historians that I'm in contact with and the culture keepers, this climate in Florida has only demonstrated for us the importance of the work that we do,” she said. “There is nothing controversial about the truth. There is nothing controversial about the facts of American history as it concerns enslavement and racism and Jim Crow in all of its manifestations.”

Now, Hobbs is working with historians and cultural preservationists across the state to develop an online history project and digital archive for Florida’s Emancipation Day. Students and families can read up on the history of May 20th, explore a timeline of Black history in Florida and find events across the state.

The initiative is also accepting photographs, oral histories and artifacts to add to the digital archive. More information on the initiative is available here.

IF YOU GO

May 19

WHAT: Destination Freedom — A “cross-cultural emancipation celebration” featuring food and music from both Haiti and the U.S. For ages 21+.

WHERE: African American Research and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311

WHEN: Friday May 19, 6-9 pm

May 20

WHAT: Freedom Celebration — In tribute to Florida’s Emancipation Day, with a full day of food, festivities and activities for children and families, including the Broward Black Market.

WHERE: African American Research and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311

WHEN: Saturday May 20, 11 am - 4 pm

Kate Payne is WLRN's Education Reporter. Reach her at kpayne@wlrnnews.org
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