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Entry bubble Celebrate Juneteenth Today!

By: Stephanie | June 19, 2009 | Category: General

I must admit that I had never heard of Juneteenth until I started working at USA.gov. In researching dates for the federal web portal, I noticed that the commemoration of Juneteenth popped up in a number of Library of Congress and Smithsonian webpages. I became intrigued to learn more, which I did. So I was especially excited to substitute for GovGab today, on the anniversary of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth image from the Anacostia MuseumJuneteenth—which is a combination of the words "June" and "nineteenth"—is a celebration to commemorate June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers finally arrived in Galveston, Texas, to spread the word that President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years before. The Library of Congress says the reason for the delay was the fact that news traveled so slowly in those days.

As the news spread, former slaves celebrated with festive foods, music, dancing, singing, games, and stories. Juneteenth has been celebrated each year since 1865. In 1979, Texas became the first state to proclaim Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) an official state holiday. Today, more than half of the states in the U.S. officially observe Juneteenth each year. People celebrate with parades, festivals, and cookouts.

Would you like to find out where Juneteenth events are in your state? Visit your state on this map for a list of local events.

I'd love to hear from any of you who celebrate Juneteenth! Tell me how you commemorate this special day.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: celebration   commemoration   emancipation   freedom   history   juneteenth   lincoln   observance   slavery   stephanie   texas  

 

Entry bubble Your Backyard National Parks!

By: Editor | May 25, 2009 | Category: Travel

Carl Chitwood has been Web Manager for the National Park Service since December of 2003 and has traveled to 124 of the 391 parks in that time.

Of all the weekend and day trips I make, none is more refreshing than a day in the mountains. Whether that day is spent at Catoctin Mountain or Shenandoah, just one or two days hiking in the crisp, fresh mountain air refreshes and recharges me for the inevitable energy drain of day-to-day work. On longer vacations, as a self described “mountain man stuck in urbania,” I always try to get to the mountains and spend time with nature. For me there is nothing better than a late spring day spent above 8,000 feet with my family. However, not everyone is a mountain person . . .Logo for the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

Almost everyone thinks of geysers or wildlife when they hear “National Park.” However, what you may not know is there are parks in almost every state covering everything from American cultural and societal history to beautiful natural landscapes and recreational activities. If you have an interest in something “American,” you can bet that there is a park for you.

This country is blessed to have such a vast and diverse National Park System. With 391 places to visit, it is almost guaranteed that you have one near you.

Get out there, enjoy your public lands, landmarks and places . . . you own them.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: culture   editor   history   national_park_service   national_parks   nature   science   travel  

 

Entry bubble All Aboard for National Train Day!

By: Nancy | May 08, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

In earlier times, they connected us to each other and brought commerce into far flung parts of the country. Though a less popular mode of travel in the US today, trains are still a source of fascination for history buffs, hobbyists and anyone whose heart is stirred by the sound of that lonesome whistle.

I've loved trains since I was little, when my dad and I would take walks along abandoned tracks in West Virginia, where he'd tell me stories of his father's adventures as a railroad blacksmith in the 1930s. So I was happy to hear that this Saturday, May 10, is the first annual National Train Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the completion of America's first transcontinental railroad in 1869, when nearly 1,800 miles of track were joined by a golden spike in Utah. To celebrate, Amtrak is hosting special events at its largest stations around the country.

That got me wondering about what historic train info I could find by searching on USA.gov. I discovered the Library of Congress' online collection of historic railroad maps and field recordings of folk songs about railroad work and life. And I found railroad art, from historic photography to Manet paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

A lot of local governments like Gaithersburg, Maryland's and libraries like Orange County, Florida's feature web pages dedicated to the contributions that trains made to their towns. And I discovered a number of state train museums, from California's to West Virginia's, located in my dad's hometown of Elkins. I had no idea that was there! I'll have to stop by when I'm in town for the next Cousins Day.

Do you have any train stories or memories to share?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [6] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: amtrak   history   nancy   railroad   train  

 

Entry bubble March is Women's History Month

By: Jim | February 29, 2008 | Category: General

suffragettes in front of Cleveland headquarters office

Hi, everybody. I’m Jim, the newest – and oldest – member of the blog team.

Some of you out there are wondering why a guy would be writing about Women’s History Month. Let’s just say I try to be a bit non-conformist. Back at San Diego State, the idea of taking a year of “western civ” and similar classes to meet my graduation requirements wasn’t appealing. I enrolled in classes that I hoped would be interesting and unusual. Women in American History was one of those classes. On looking back at my working class Ohio upbringing, I bet my parents thought I was becoming some sort of radical.

It turns out that I really enjoyed the class because we weren’t simply memorizing lists of dates and events. The class was more interesting because some of the ideas we discussed in the classroom were borne from women’s first-hand accounts of everyday life and its challenges—like a pioneer woman’s diary entry about how she had to sift the worms out of the flour to make the day’s bread. I was surprised to learn that that in 1851, my home town Akron, Ohio was the site of a women’s rights convention, the one in which escaped slave Sojourner Truth made her noteworthy “Ain’t I Woman” speech.

Speaking of surprises, I got one while I was on USA.gov’s History, Arts, and Culture page looking for some additional Women’s History Month information. There’s actually a Women’s Rights National Park. The National Register of Historic Places has a travel itinerary of places where women made history. Sounds like a road trip is my future.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: girl   history   jim   suffrage   women  

 

Entry bubble Why We Don't Celebrate George Washington's Birthday on his Birthday

By: Jake | February 18, 2008 | Category: Fun

If you turned on the TV or radio, read the paper, and/or surfed the net this weekend, you were probably exposed to ads for President's Day Weekend sales. President's Day has become the common name for today, the holiday the federal government designates as Washington's Birthday but isn't his actual birthday.George Washington

George Washington's actual birthday is February 22nd, and it was a federal holiday from 1879 until Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to "bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation." This law designated Washington's Birthday be celebrated on the third Monday of February starting in 1971.

There are various reasons that President's Day is becoming the preferred term for Washington's Birthday. Some have said that early drafts of the bill aimed to recognize Lincoln and other presidents on the holiday, but it never made it into law. States do not have to follow federal holidays, but many do recognize the holiday as "President's Day." The term has also been popularized by retail promotions this time of year (we have free publication offers year round, by the way).

Many Americans still celebrate the holiday as if it's George Washington's birthday with parades and other fanfare like the reading Washington's farewell address in Congress. You may wonder what General Washington would have thought of his birthday being recognized on a different date, and he probably would tell you it's not the first time.

Washington's birthday date changed in his lifetime when Great Britain and all of its colonies switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752. Not only did the date change of February 11 become the 22nd, but so did the year from 1732 to 1733.

| View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: history   jake   washington  

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