Shove-Off Day Remembrance 1865 Path To Texas’ Juneteenth That Began In Hopewell, Va.

New Journal and Guide Staff

In 2023, the National Park Service hosted “Shove Off Day” in Hopewell, Virginia, bringing widespread national attention for the first time to the role of Virginia in the storied history that surrounds Juneteenth.

This year, a bigger “Shove Off Day” celebration is planned on May 25, 2024. In fact, “Shove Off Day” is now part of the official Juneteenth calendar, according to The National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF) which is in partnership with the National Park Service for the 2024 recognition program   NJOF is the official foundation which advocated more than 25 years for the recognition of Juneteenth before the signing of the federal holiday legislation in 2021.

Included in the 2024 activities will be a Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony performed by US Colored Troops (USCT) reenactors; guest speakers sharing the USCT’s stories; and there will be Tours of City Point and Appomattox Plantation.  The commemoration will be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the area adjacent to the Old City Point Waterfront Park at 1199 Pecan Avenue and free parking will be available there.

Over the years, history has marked June 19th as the African-American Emancipation Day.

Its annual observance has spread across the United States and beyond. It became an official federal holiday in 2021 and is observed by most U.S. states.

Juneteenth dates from the arrival of U.S. military troops in Galveston, Texas in June 1865 where an official order was issued by General Gordon Granger on June 19th notifying and freeing the still Black enslaved population living there that the Civil War was over and they had been freed from bondage by the Union’s victory.

These troops were on assignment to the Texas /Mexico border to defend the United States from Emperor Maxmilian. They included the U.S. Colored Troops who had fought valiantly for the Union during the Civil War and on May 25, 1865, they had left by ship from City Point, Virginia, now known as Hopewell.

“Shove Off Day is just one of the many stories that make up the legacy and the full glory of Emancipation and the effect on all that share this land and beyond,” the NJOF said.

Reenactors interested in participating may register online at www.shoveoffday.org

The observance is free and open to the public. Parking is free.

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General Granger’s Order Number 3

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”

General Gordon Granger, June 19th 1865 in Galveston, Texas