Athens Area Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on May 24.
The Athens-Clarke County Library’s Heritage Room and the Athens chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) present “From 1619 to Juneteenth: Slavery and the Law Before the Civil War,” a free online presentation on Sunday, June 5 at 2:00 p.m.
No issue more bitterly impacted early America than slavery. Defended by some, decried by others, slavery left its mark on the laws of the nation and all the states, enslaved or free. The records created by those laws provide critical clues for genealogists, whether descended from enslaved or enslaver. Learn more about those laws and genealogy with Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell.
This event is sponsored by the Athens-Clarke County Library, Heritage Room and the Athens Chapter of ASALH as part of Athens-Clarke County’s community-led and community wide “19 Days of Juneteenth” celebration.
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free on June 19, 1865 – two and half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January 1863. The celebration not only commemorates African American free-dom throughout America, it also emphasizes education and achievement internationally.
On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed into law Senate Bill 475 making Juneteenth a federal holiday. It is the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.
The event will be held online via Zoom, registration will be required, a recording of the event will be available for 30 days.
To sign up for this free online event, visit athenslibrary.org/events or call (706) 613-3650, ext. 350. To learn more about the “19 Days of Juneteenth” community celebration, visit www.accgov.com/9984/Juneteenth.
Original source can be found here.
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