June 19 holiday sought in state

A grass-roots coalition of community activists is ramping up efforts for statewide recognition of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating June 19, 1865, as the day when the last people held as slaves in the United States were freed.

Organizers hope to add Massachusetts to the list of 18 states that observe the day, which has also been formally recognized by the District of Columbia and the US House of Representatives as well as several other countries. Nationwide, elected officials and grass-roots workers are urging President Bush to approve Juneteenth as a national holiday observance similar to Flag Day.

Organizers of the campaign are hosting a lunchtime Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony and historical reenactment today at the Dilloway-Thomas House in Roxbury. The flag-raising kicks off a petition drive to gather several thousand signatures intended to persuade Governor Mitt Romney to consider a Juneteenth Independence Day proclamation that was filed in 2003 , but never brought out of committee. Councilor Charles C. Yancey has also called for the state to officially observe Juneteenth.

``It's full-court press now for both local and federal authorities," said Ralph Browne , cochairman of the Massachusetts branch of the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign , who yesterday was putting the finishing touches on today's plans. ``We want to keep this on the top burner."

The history of the day stems from a nuance of American history: The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in theory but not in practice when it went into effect Jan. 1, 1863 , more than two years before the end of the Civil War. On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger sailed into Galveston, Texas, on an Army ship to announce the end of slavery and inform slave owners their cotton plantations were forfeit.

A round of celebrations then ensued in Texas, as word spread among black people who discovered their new status as free men and women. As years went by, celebration of the day spread throughout the South, West, and Midwest, and now includes fairs, festivals, and Miss Juneteenth beauty pageants. As black people moved north, they brought the celebration with them. In 1980, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a statewide, paid, legal holiday.

Boston's Juneteenth celebrations began Wednesday, as throngs of former Bostonians returned to the area to prepare for Roxbury Pride Day, a reunion barbecue held the Saturday closest to June 19. More than 1,000 people gathered Saturday in Franklin Park to reflect upon their lives in Boston and the impact of Juneteenth, said organizers. ``We're the descendants and the survivors of slavery, so we carry on despite the negativity around us," said Ann Luster , 57, who hosted a Juneteenth event Friday at Slade's Bar & Grill. She also supports the notion of a state holiday. ``We had a holocaust, too. This is our past; let's not forget it."

Yancey did not return calls to the Globe, but his chief of staff, Kenneth Yarbrough , said the effort needed a boost. ``It's just symbolic really, urging the state to do that," said Yarbrough. ``It's an important day for many descendants of slaves."

Last week at the Freedom House in Dorchester, program director Jenelle Holder took students through a weeklong orientation about Juneteenth, which started with students watching the black history epic ``Roots" and ended with some students researching their genealogical roots back to Africa. Over the weekend, in Washington, D.C., several hundred people attended a series of Juneteenth events, including a prayer service at the Allen Chapel AME Church and the Congressional Juneteenth reception that organizers said was hosted by Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois .

The holiday is observed on the third Saturday of the month in states such as Connecticut, New Mexico, New York, and Florida. Illinois approved the holiday observance in 2003 after a grass-roots initiative similar to the one in Massachusetts, said Geraldo Cardenas , press secretary for Governor Rod R. Blagojevich . It was the initiative of those organizations that led to the statewide observance in Illinois, Cardenas said.

In Boston, civic activist Ben Haith has hosted a local Juneteenth event for 13 years, and he is responsible for creating the Juneteenth flag, now a symbol of the national holiday movement.

Haith said the idea is more palatable to a younger generation.

``To have another Independence Day would have been a real hard sell years ago," Haith said. ``The great thing about Juneteenth is it will bring African-Americans from all different classes and backgrounds to recognize they have one thing in common other than the pigmentation of their skin. They have a day that is common that represents all of them and what they endured and what they contributed."

The Rev. Ronald V. Myers of Mississippi, who started the movement for a national Juneteenth holiday in 1994 , said the effort still meets resistance from people who are uncomfortable with truths about American history. He also oversees the Washington, D.C., celebration, during which the names of some of the estimated 8,000 victims of lynching were read aloud on Saturday to remind the crowd of one portion of the toll of slavery.

``The 19th of June completes the cycle of independence celebrations in America," said Myers in a telephone interview. ``On the Fourth of July, Americans of African descent were slaves and George Washington was a slave owner. But after June 19, 1865, all Americans, regardless of race, were free."

Adrienne P. Samuels can be reached at asamuels@globe.com.