Pekin's Ties to the First Juneteenth

Did you know that four men from Pekin were present on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas when slavery was finally abolished?
 

Four of Pekin’s Black Civil War heroes – William H. Costley, William H. Ashby, Marshall Ashby, and Nathan Ashby, all of whom served in the 29th U.S. Black Infantry during and after the Civil War, were present at that time and place when General Granger read General Order #3 enacting the Emancipation Proclamation (three years after delivered by President Lincoln.) Slaves in Texas were finally freed!
 

While adults learn the history of these men and Pekin's connection to this event in the Community Room at the Pekin Public Library, intermediate school aged students will have a concurrent program in the Conference Room.

Students will Imagine themselves in Galveston, Texas in June 1865, choosing their path once they learn of their freedom. The Story of Juneteenth will be used with interactive text through which participants choose their destiny once freed.
 

This program is brought to you by YWCA Pekin's Coalition for Equality and the Pekin Public Library.