Yesterday many citizens in the Nacogdoches community celebrated Juneteenth on the hill behind the former E.J.Campbell High School. Hopefully, this column will inform some while others will bow their heads in agreement as to why we had this celebration. The following is a fictional story I've written, about fictional characters.
The year was 1930 in Twiggs County, Texas. The sun was shining fierce and hot as Mae Annie Jackson skipped bare-footed down the dusty trail that led from Big Mama Addie's shack to the house down the road, where she lived in with her family. This was a happy day for Mae Annie and her family because they would celebrate Juneteenth after her father and brothers finished their field chores at noon. The white man her family worked for had said they could leave the fields early to celebrate. As Mae Annie walked in the door, she recalled the smile on Big Mama's face when she leaned down to give her a kiss and tell her it was "Juneteenth Day." Mae Annie grabbed a wet rag to remove the odor of liniment and homemade garlic salve Big Mama's kiss had left on her face.
That spring in 1930, 80-year-old Addie Wilson fell ill. She spends her time confined to her favorite chair or her bed, refusing to leave the old shack where she lives alone. The children and grandchildren who live nearby take turns sitting with their Big Mama Addie. Annie Mae, just completing her turn to stay with Big Mama Addie, now returned to home to help prepare for the celebration that would take place later in the day.
Mae Annie went about her chores, recalling how happy this day made Big Mama Addie and why.
Addie Lee Wilson was born a slave, to slave parents, in 1850 on the Wilson plantation. The youngest child, she recalled memories of her mother working in the big house during the day while her father worked in the fields with her older sisters and brothers. The early evenings before bedtime were filled with love and laughter in the slave quarters, the small shack they all called home. In 1858, when Addie was eight years old, she was awakened by her mother's loud screams. She saw her father pound on the walls of the shack with his fist. Later, Addie was pulled out of bed and taken outside by a neighbor as she watched two wagons loaded with slaves including some of her family, being taken away by new masters. The last memory she had of her mother was of her being held in the back of the wagon with her arms outstretched crying and saying, "I will come back for you Addie, I will come back."
Addie was told later that her father, mother, older brothers and sisters were sold to different masters and sent to lives in different plantations and homes. She was also told that the owner of the Wilson plantation needed the money, but kept Addie and a few other younger slaves because they were too young to work and they would not fetch a big price. Addie stayed on at the Wilson plantation with an old half-breed slave woman, "Aunt Sis," who raised them to work for old Master Wilson. Addie's life was hard growing up. Aunt Sis showed no love or affection to any of the children. Later Addie was told that Master Wilson was Aunt Sis's father and that her mother had been sold shortly after her birth. Aunt Sis was raised in the slave quarters by slaves who resented her fair skin. She never knew the love of her mother. Addie concluded this was why Aunt Sis was so mean. In 1865, when Addie was 15 years old, Mr. Wilson purchased a slave named Carlton from a nearby plantation. Unfortunately for Master Wilson, he was never able to get his money's worth out of Carlton because this was same year slaves were set free in Texas. Carlton and Addie fell in love and knowing they were free, jumped the broom and became married in 1866. Addie convinced Carlton that her mother was coming back for her, so they should stay on at the Wilson plantation. They worked small wages because neither one knew of any place else to go. They raised three children in the small shack that Addie called home, one being Annie Mae's mother, Sally, who was born in 1870. Sally grew up and married Annie Mae's father, Abe Jackson, in 1887. They had four other children who lived nearby the home place in Twiggs County. Addie continued to live in the old shack even after Carlton died in 1910. Over the years, her children tried to convince her to leave the old shack but she never would, always believing that her mother would come back for her.
Mae Annie often heard Big Mama tell stories about the horrors of slavery, and then she would see her eyes well up with tears and she would stop talking. Big Mama Addie loved to celebrate Juneteenth because she knew that was the day she was free and she knew her family would be happy wherever they were, because they were free. Addie and Carlton created a good life for their children and later, she shared her love with Mae Annie and her other grandchildren. However, she never forgot her other family, especially her mother, and the love she had for Addie and her sisters and brothers. She grew up hating the concept of slavery because it took away her family. This is why Addie always wanted her children and grandchildren to remember the evils of slavery and always celebrate its ending. After Mae Annie and her family celebrated Juneteenth, they all returned to Big Mama Addie's house where they were told she was asking for her children and grandchildren. On June 19, 1930, Addie Wilson died quietly in her sleep with a smile on her face after telling her family, "Mama finally came back to get me."
The quote below was taken from the story of Booker T. Washington in "No More! Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance," by Doreen Rappaport.
"Standing on the veranda if the "big house," nine year old Booker T. Washington snuggles into the crook of his mother's arm. A white man in a blue uniform starts to talk. Booker does not understand all his big words but he senses their importance. When the man finishes speaking, his words are greeted with silence and awe. Then Booker's mother hugs him so tight he can hardly breathe. Tears stream down her face as she kisses him and his sister and brother. "I prayed many times for this day," she says. "But I never believed I would see it." Then Booker knows. They are free! Every last one of the slaves on James Burroughs's plantation. Free! Little did they know then they were indeed free but they had to meet the next challenge and that was to gain their freedom." Yes they did!
In The New Handbook of Texas, Teresa Palonio Acosta tells us why we celebrate Juneteenth, "On June 19, 1865 Union General Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, thus belatedly bringing about the freeing on 250,000 slaves in Texas ... The news elicited an array of personal celebrations ... Within a short time ... Juneteenth was marked by festivities throughout the state. The day has been celebrated through formal thanksgiving ceremonies ... (and) public entertainment, picnics and family reunions ... often featuring dramatic readings, pageants,, parades, barbecues, and ball games. Blues festivals have also shaped the Juneteenth observance ... African Americans ... celebrating their cultural heritage led to the (Juneteenth becoming) a state holiday ... Juneteenth has also had an impact outside the state ... the Smithsonian Institution sponsored "Juneteenth 91, Freedom Revisited" ... providing the public the opportunity to recall the milestone in human rights the day represents for African Americans."
Jeri Mills is a retired educator and a contributing writer.
