Ashton Villa was again the site of the major event of Juneteenth, the celebration of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to the slaves of Texas in Galveston on June 19, 1865. Listen: RealPlayer MP3
Rear Admiral Manson K. Brown, commander of the 14th Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii, was an honored guest at the event.
Texas State Representative Al Edwards sponsored two legislative bills establishing Juneteenth as a state holiday and providing for statues in Galveston and at the Texas Capitol in Austin, also was a speaker at the event.
A high point of the event was a conciliatory hug between former Galveston City Council member Steve Greenberg, who now represents Landry's Restaurants, and former Galveston city manager Doug Matthews, who coordinated the Juneteenth event. The two had been adversaries in the past.
The Annual Juneteenth Jubilee Parade and the annual Annie Mae Charles Juneteenth Jubilee Picnic at Wright Cuney Park were also part of the day's festivities.