Duplin NAACP Juneteenth set for Saturday
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on June 17, 2005 1:45 PM
ROSE HILL -- The Duplin County NAACP Youth Council will have its second annual Juneteenth Celebration at 5 p.m. Saturday at the New Christian Chapel Missionary Baptist Church at Rose Hill.
The keynote speaker will be Cynthia Brown of Durham.
Also featured on the program will be the Jinwrights of Leland, the Gospel Boys of Jacksonville, St. Peter AME Choir of Warsaw and the New Christian Chapel Male Chorus.
Organizers say the event is called Juneteenth in honor of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
They said many people did not know about Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves on Jan. 1, 1863, until after the end of the Civil War.
Gen. Gordon Granger issued an order on June 19, 1865 that officially freed all American slaves, hence the celebration's June date.