From honoring Emancipation on May 20th to Juneteenth, now is the time to look back
On a sunny Tuesday in May in downtown Tallahassee, flags flapped in the breeze as a uniformed color guard solemnly marched toward the steps of the Knott House.
On the porch, a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation sounded into the streets to a listening crowd, each word carrying with it the promise and responsibility historic moments bring. A historic reenactment was in full swing, commemorating Emancipation — the beginning of a new era in the United States and in Florida— and the celebration of Freedom Days.
Thus, the 20th of May should be as well-known in Florida as the 4th of July. It, too, is an American Day of Freedom, the day when Black people, who were enslaved by White people in Florida, were finally notified by the Civil War's Union soldiers that they could live their lives as free people.
That day was May 20, 1865, two years, five months, and 20 days after the Jan. 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation called for the freeing of all enslaved Black people. Yet even today, many people in Florida have never heard of the 20th of May. It's not written in many history books or taught in most Florida public schools.
It is only now becoming more widely known due to the efforts of an organized group of Black historians who have been sharing the date's importance throughout the state for the past 30 years.
Bearing witness and carrying culture
These local historians, known as “culture keepers,’’ are community members who witness, practice, and document specific cultural traditions, art forms, beliefs, and knowledge. This year’s 20th of May Culture Keepers of North Florida Awards honored 12 individuals and four organizations who have spent many years building awareness of the day while keeping the traditions and Emancipation celebrations of Black ancestors alive in their seven respective counties.
This year's oldest honoree was 98-year-old Dr. George Washington Pittman Sr., representing Jackson County. He was honored for his work as a teacher, principal, administrator, and college professor in Jackson and Jefferson counties. For more than 60 years, he has also worked in numerous schools, organizations, and communities in both counties to inform and instill the cultural traditions of the 20th of May.
To say Pittman has “pep in his step” would be an understatement for this gentleman, who showed his vibrancy as he walked toward the podium to receive his award. Pittman holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Religious Education from Union Baptist Theological Seminary in Albany, Georgia, as well as degrees from Florida A&M University and Jackson County Training School. He is also a military veteran who served this country in the Air Force during World War II.
Another standout honoree, former military veteran Ira Galvin, is revered in Gadsden County as a teacher of American History, World History, and Civics.
He made these subjects come alive by including his personal experiences in each lesson he shared. Audrey Lewis, who presented his award, was in his Civics class. “He was one of those teachers who was exceptional. (Speaking) of what he had gone through and what we were going through, and letting us know what our history and heritage was all about. Not always from textbooks,” Lewis said.
This included how Gavin walked in the bus boycotts and spoke of the consequences Black people often suffered for wanting and taking action on their need for equal rights. Or how historical facts about Black history were never written in the textbooks provided at school.
So, he provided students with lists of Black book authors, such as Lerone Bennett, who wrote historical books from a Black perspective to illuminate how history affected Black people in this country. And he urged his students to go to libraries or bookstores to find and read those books.
For many years, Black history was not in school-approved textbooks or allowed to be taught in Florida schools. Instead, Galvin got permission to take students on field trips to have conversations with elders in the community so that they could hear of the actual experiences of other Black people. Black history was finally added as a small part of the curriculum in Florida schools in the early 1990s.
Now 91 years old, Galvin has a long history of sharing the heritage and cultural traditions of the 20th of May with his students. He still remembers the large 20th of May celebrations in Havana that he attended as a child in the 1940s and 1950s. Vivid are the images of large dinners, huge tubs of lemonade, cakes made by women in the community, and spending the entire day celebrating with family and neighbors.
Galvin continues to be involved in his community's 20th of May and Black History celebrations. He often serves as a featured speaker, telling of his childhood, showing vintage utensils, cast-iron pots, wash tubs, farming tools, radios, phones, and old equipment. Yes, he's still teaching, but now it’s children and adults who gain from his vast knowledge about Emancipation and the 20th of May.
From May 20 to Juneteenth, a cause for celebration
This year, 20th of May events were held in seven counties. This included parades, guest speakers and entertainment, vendors, a cemetery ceremony to honor fallen Union Soldiers, reading of the Emancipation Proclamation on the steps of the historic Knott House in Tallahassee, youth speeches, food, cultural drumming cadences, health and wellness resource programs, a concert, a gala, church services, and a day of kids’ activities.
Some standouts included Leon County’s five-day celebration and annual Florida African-American Heritage Preservation Conference.
Franklin County held a commemoration at the Negro Fort near Apalachicola, featuring Merikin, Maroon, and Yamassee Indian descendants of Free Black people and Indians who immigrated to Trinidad and Tobago, South Carolina, South Florida, Hyde Park, Florida and other parts of this country and the Caribbean.
Jackson County hosted a month-long series of activities in May at various county schools.
Of note, Wakulla County is following up its four-day celebration with events that led up to this year's Juneteenth celebration, connecting the two through bridge events.
Juneteenth is another Freedom Day, commemorating June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved Black people were told they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, enacted more than two years earlier. Two of the events were this past week, consisting of a health discussion in association with Wakulla’s Department of Health and the other a community lunch and discussion. The next event is a Youth Fun Day on June 13.
Writers keep the stories alive
Authors were also a part of the May 20 events. Fourteen-year-old Yamassee Indian descendant of Negro Fort residents, Vanae James-Bey, wrote her first book on Indigenous people when she was 6 years old. She has now written four books in her “Princess Vanae” series, which explores her Black and Indian heritage. She and her family were among the Yamassee Indian descendants at the May 25 Negro Fort commemoration.
Byron Dickens, a 2024 Culture Keeper, has also written a book. As a teacher in Jackson County who helped start the county's Freedom Month, his 2021 publication, “May Day and Me: Celebrating Florida's Emancipation Day,” featured information about the 20th of May. Dickens took 40 of his fifth-grade students to participate in the 20th of May events in Tallahassee.
They were a diverse group – five Hispanic, 15 White, and 20 Black students who had never participated in an event of this type before. They attended the cemetery ceremony, visited the Riley House Museum, and were at the Knott House Museum for the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation.
From culture keepers to celebration events to the words of authors penning stories to remember, the lessons of our time ring true: freedom has been earned through the blood, sweat, tears, and courage of our ancestors.
Our region attests to this as counties continue the celebrations, commemorations and awareness-building efforts they've been undertaking for the past 30 years.
Hopefully, Florida's 20th of May Freedom Day will become like Juneteenth, known by everyone in this state and throughout this country.
If you go
What: Connecting Florida’s May 20th to America’s Juneteenth: Youth Fun Day
When: Friday, June 13, Time TBD
Where: Palaver Tree Theater, 59 Shadeville Road, Crawfordville
Contact: 850-933-9133 | palavertreetheater@gmail.com; visit palavertreetheater.org
If you go
What: 5th Annual Juneteenth Empowerment Festival: A Celebration of Empowerment
When: 2-8 p.m. Saturday, June 14
Where: Cascades Park, 1001 S. Gadsden St.
Cost: Free
Contact: C4outreach@gmail.com
Culture Keepers contacts
List of the May Culture Keepers & the counties they represent:• Franklin County, Valentina Webb, North Florida African American Corridor• Gadsden County, Ira Galvin, The Strong Family• Jackson County, George Washington Pittman• Jefferson County, Ola Syliva Lamar Sheffield, Ph.D., Ann Herring• Leon County, Brian Forbing, Frank Williams, The Givens Family• Madison County, Dr. Andrea Oliver, Ph.D., Rosa Richardson• Wakulla County, Jennie V. Jones, Delores Nelson, Wakulla County Christian Coalition
Priscilla Hawkins is a guest writer for The Council on Culture & Arts (COCA) and founder & creative director of Black History Alliance. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, COCA is the capital area’s umbrella agency for arts and culture (tallahasseearts.org).
(This story was updated to add new information and clarify writers' intent.)