MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
One hundred sixty years ago today, Union General Gordon Granger delivered an announcement in Galveston, Texas, that changed American history. It began, the people are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free. Granger's news officially freed around a quarter million people who were still enslaved in Texas after the Civil War. The day commemorating this event is known as Juneteenth. To see how people are celebrating, the Texas Standard's Sean Saldana took a trip to the place where it all started.
SEAN SALDANA, BYLINE: For the past three years, the Galveston Symphony Orchestra has ended its season by performing a concert inspired by liberation and perseverance.
(SOUNDBITE OF GALVESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S PERFORMANCE OF IZOLA COLLINS' "GALVESTON SURVIVES")
SALDANA: This song is called "Galveston Survives," and it was composed by a woman named Izola Collins, a descendant of people who were enslaved on the Texas Gulf Coast.
JUNE COLLINS PULLIAM: My great, great grandparents were enslaved right across Galveston Bay in Bolivar, and they came here when they were emancipated for a better life and made their home here.
SALDANA: June Collins Pulliam is the daughter of Izola Collins, and she explained that her mother composed this song not just to capture the struggle for equality but also the resilience of Galveston, which in 1900 was leveled by a hurricane that killed more than 6,000 people.
(SOUNDBITE OF GALVESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA'S PERFORMANCE OF IZOLA COLLINS' "GALVESTON SURVIVES")
COLLINS PULLIAM: So much of what her piece of music reflects is Galveston overcoming.
SALDANA: This Juneteenth celebration was conducted by Christina LeBlanc, the executive director of the Galveston Symphony.
CHRISTINA LEBLANC: There's so much history and cultural significance on this tiny island that's really important to our national history.
SALDANA: She explained that all the songs performed at this concert were written by Black composers. Also, this year, they performed alongside the Galveston Heritage Chorale, a group that sings and preserves African American spirituals.
GALVESTON HERITAGE CHORALE: (Singing) Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.
MELISSA DIGHTMAN: These are songs of joy, songs of sorrow because the enslaved people could not express themselves through other forms of communication.
SALDANA: Melissa Dightman is a Galveston native and a conductor of the Heritage Chorale. And I asked her why she spends her time performing songs that some consider to be so bleak.
DIGHTMAN: It's to preserve them. It's to keep them alive. It's to also recognize the culture of African Americans are from the enslaved people.
SALDANA: Her favorite song on this year's program is called "I Wanna Die Easy."
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) I wanna die easy when I die.
SALDANA: There's no exact day that marks the end of slavery in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, the Civil War ended on April 9, and the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery was adopted on December 6. But none of those days are a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. Juneteenth is. It started here on the Texas Gulf Coast, but has since been adopted by all of America.
For NPR News, I'm Sean Saldana in Galveston.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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