JUNETEEN

Yesterday was Juneteen - a date set aside to commemorate the day in 1865 when Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas were free.

Last year our Juneteen post focused on an MPL presentation on slave quilts, sponsored by the Friends of the library. This year, in memory of this occasion, we looked for some Bullis books on the subject of slavery.  We found several, and chose this one to highlight this week:

A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States : with remarks on their economy, 

by Frederick Law Olmsted, published by Dix & Edwards, New York, in 1856

Frederick Law Olmsted was a journalist and landscape designer of city parks, and his most famous achievement was Central Park in New York. He was also a passionate abolitionist who took many journeys throughout the south in 1853 and 1854. 

This book has lots of fascinating and witty descriptions of the author's encounters and experiences on those journeys through the southern society, which was on the verge of overwhelming change at that time.  If you are unable to celebrate Juneteen with fireworks and feasting, consider spending some time with this interesting book.