By First Selectman, Fred Camillo
It was a great turnout on Friday afternoon for the Town’s inaugural Juneteenth commemoration in front of Town Hall.
About 75 people joined me and our Board of Selectmen, members of our state Delegation, and other Town officials to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation. It was Union Army General Gordon Granger who delivered the news in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.
I am proud that Greenwich has joined the national effort to promote and enhance the unity and spiritual strength that brought African Americans out of slavery and sustained their dignity and prosperity to the present day. I thank all those who participated in the proclamation presentation and flag-raising program, including our police chaplain and pastor of First Baptist Church Rev. Thomas Nins, and YWCA
