Murfreesboro will be extending its usual Juneteenth celebration into a three-day event this year.
Juneteenth refers to June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed the people of Galveston, Texas, that President Abraham Lincoln had freed enslaved people in rebel states two and a half years earlier through the Emancipation Proclamation.
Although Lincoln proclaimed the emancipation of enslaved people, effective Jan. 1, 1863, slave owners were responsible for telling the enslaved they were free. Some ignored the order until Union troops arrived to enforce it, according to Cliff Robinson, founder of Juneteenth.com. Texas was the last Confederate state to have the proclamation announced.
TAYLA COURAGE
Flight attendant and childrenâs book author Katerra Locke (left)
and her 6-year-old son Elias (right) show their books and a
âBlankie The Magic Blanketâ at Lockeâs Linebaugh Library book
signing recently. Locke said she was inspired to write childrenâs
books to document their travels. Elias said his favorite activities
on their travels have been swimming and boogie boarding on their
trip to Hawaii.
TAYLA COURAGE
Flight attendant and childrenâs book author Katerra Locke thumbs
through the pages of her first childrenâs book âElias and the Magic
Blanket Turks & Caicosâ at her Linebaugh Library book signing on
Flight attendant and children s book author Katerra Locke thumbs through the pages of her first childrenâs book âElias and the Magic Blanket Turks & Caicosâ at her Linebaugh Library book signing on earlier this month. Itâs the first of two travel books with her son Elias, 6 (right), as the main adventurer. Each story documents their travels together. Itâs just us, and our magic blanket, said Locke.
TAYLA COURAGE