06/19/2025
Did you know that here in Keokuk, Iowans of all races have gathered to honor freedom for nearly 170 years? Although Juneteenth only became an official national holiday in 2021, it has been celebrated since Civil War times.
When Iowa became a state in 1846, it was the first carved from the Louisiana Purchase to forbid slavery outright (Palimpsest, 1942 [9]). Its constitution declared: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this State.” That commitment made Iowa a haven for freedom-seeking people and a stage for commemorating that freedom once won.
Even before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Black Iowans and their allies found ways to gather, remember, and rejoice in the end of bo***ge — even if far away. The Muscatine Evening Journal recorded that as early as 1856, Black residents there invited all citizens to join them in celebrating the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies, an anniversary marked on or near August 1 (*Landis, Des Moines Register, 2023 [8]).
This custom of public freedom celebrations spread quickly across the state’s Black communities — and in towns like Keokuk, Fort Madison, Ottumwa, Burlington, Albia, and beyond, Emancipation Days became treasured annual gatherings.
By the late 1800s, Keokuk’s African American families were organizing some of Iowa’s most prominent Emancipation Day events. On August 4, 1898, for example, the keynote speaker at Keokuk’s celebration was John L. Thompson, editor of the Iowa State Bystander — the state’s leading Black newspaper of its day.
In words still stirring today, Thompson urged his neighbors to reckon honestly with the horrors that freedom had overcome:
“Think of being compelled to live all your life with the man who is stealing the babies from your cradle and you dare not say one word; think of being compelled to associate with the despised and hated southerner who is constantly robbing you; think of being compelled to separate from your dear brother, loving sister, only father and mother, never to see them again... Four million souls in fetters; four million bodies in chains; all the sacred relations of wife, fathers and mothers trampled beneath the brutal feet of avarice and might — and yet, fellow citizens, all of this was done under our beautiful and so-called flag of the free” (Schwalm, Annals of Iowa, 2003 [11]).
These gatherings were never just somber memorials — they were vibrant public festivals, with sermons, parades, music, horse races, barbecues, and family reunions. Fort Madison’s Emancipation Day in 1942, for instance, featured carnival rides, children laughing over fried chicken and ice cream, and heartfelt prayers for American soldiers fighting abroad (Palimpsest, 1942 [9]).
Iowans historically observed three main Emancipation anniversaries:
January 1 — when Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863.
September 22 — the date Lincoln issued his preliminary warning in 1862.
August 1 — honoring the 1834 abolition of slavery in the British colonies, a global event that inspired enslaved people and abolitionists worldwide (Landis, 2023 [8]).
By the 20th century, the Texas date — June 19, 1865, when Union troops informed the last enslaved people in Texas of their freedom — grew to be the most widely recognized, eventually nicknamed “Juneteenth.” But here in Iowa, the tradition of gathering for a freedom day was older than that name.
As historian Leslie Schwalm explains, these Emancipation celebrations were far more than holiday picnics. They were powerful declarations of loyalty and citizenship by people once denied both. They combined solemn prayers, patriotic orations, parades, and vigorous public debates about the meaning of freedom (Annals of Iowa, 2003 [11]). In a state that sent thousands to fight for the Union, these gatherings expressed precisely the values Iowans still claim today: liberty, unity, and civic pride.
Even during World War II, as young Black men from Keokuk and Fort Madison served overseas, local families gathered at Emancipation Days to pray for them — celebrating freedom while defending it again in battle (Palimpsest, 1942 [9]).
What we call Juneteenth today simply continues this local, deeply American tradition. It is not a modern novelty, nor a political statement. It is the natural heir to the celebrations that Iowans — Black and white — have attended for generations: to honor the end of human bo***ge, remember the cost, and renew a promise that freedom belongs to everyone.
As John L. Thompson told the people of Keokuk more than a century ago, true freedom demands that we never forget its price — and that we celebrate it together, under our shared flag.
Happy Juneteenth!
References:
Leo Landis, Iowa’s Juneteenth Roots Run Deep, Des Moines Register, 2023 [8].
H.A. Schelicher, Commemorating Emancipation, The Palimpsest, 1942 [9].
Leslie A. Schwalm, Emancipation Day Celebrations, Annals of Iowa, 2003 [11].
David J. Brodnax, “Breathing the Freedom’s Air”, Northwestern University Dissertation, 2007 [10].
