19th-century Findlay gathering honored end of slavery

On Sept. 22, 1880, a highly unlikely gathering — described by one local reporter as "a perfect jam of eager surging humanity" — took place in Findlay. On this day, an estimated 10,000 people gathered in the city to celebrate the 17th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, with the preparations and the day's events extensively documented by local news outlets and even the New York Times. In an article titled "Justice to the Negro: Letters from Gen. Grant and Senator Conkling," H. J. Welch of the New York Times writes: "The colored people of Ohio and Indiana held a mass-meeting to the number of 10,000 persons in Findlay, Ohio, on the 22nd inst., and celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of President Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. There was a procession, the Rev. James Poindexter, the Hon. John M. Langston, and Solomon Day made addresses, and letters from Gen. Grant, Senator Conkling, and others were read." This article, along with the letters mentioned, hangs inside Findlay's Black Heritage Library & Multicultural Center, whose leadership has planned several Juneteenth celebrations for Saturday. Modern-day commemorations Jerome Gray, interim executive director of the Black Heritage Library, explained that June 19, 1865, was the day when enslaved African Americans in the westernmost part of the Union (Galveston, Texas) were told of the Emancipation Proclamation. Though the executive order had been issued two years prior, news of the slaves' freedom took time to reach Texas. Gray noted that while the Emancipation Proclamation is often heralded as the greatest executive order in America's history, Juneteenth and the real freedom it brought should also be celebrated as such. "Without that date, who knows what America would be," he said. "It should be a national day of celebration." President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday making Juneteenth, or June 19, the 12th federal holiday, after it passed both the House and Senate earlier this week. The federal holiday will be known as Juneteenth National Independence Day. Gray and others at the Black Heritage Library encourage people of all races to study up on and celebrate Juneteenth this year, beginning first with the basics of learning "what it is and why it is." The library will join the community in commemorating the holiday from 6-8 p.m. Saturday by hosting a Zoom showing of the PBS documentary "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross." Additionally, library staff suggest those interested in learning more tune in at 1 p.m. Saturday for a self-guided study of "Juneteenth Stories of Freedom," presented by The Peale Center. Parents wanting to teach their children about Juneteenth are advised to use the video from the PBS Learning Media series "All About The Holidays"; while Teen Vogue lists 15 Black documentaries to stream. Links to all programs, articles and videos are posted on the Black Heritage Library's Facebook and Instagram accounts.Gray said personnel from the Black Heritage Library have often wondered why such a large-scale celebration would have been held in Findlay in the year 1880. More importantly, they desire to organize a modern-day, statewide celebration of Juneteenth that would stand in commemoration of Findlay's 19th-century gathering. Organizers envision speakers, music and dancers, parades and more, with Gray noting that such an undertaking would require cooperation among local governments, businesses, organizations and residents themselves. Rejoicing in the streets A Sept. 9, 1880, article printed in the Hancock Courier previews the anniversary gathering, noting that "almost all the arrangements have been completed and measures taken for a big crowd." Excursions were arranged from "Muncie, Columbus, Sandusky City, Toledo and Delaware," the newspaper reported. On Sept. 24, 1880, two days after the gathering, the Findlay Jeffersonian printed the headline "The Great Outpouring: Of Thousands Upon Thousands of People Both White and Colored, Throng the Streets of Findlay and Participate in the General Rejoicing." The article notes that the efforts to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation "were widespread, and no stone was left unturned to secure a grand success. Posters were spread over Ohio and a portion of Indiana, newspapers gave free use of their columns, celebrated colored speakers were secured, and in spite of the fact that the colored citizens of Lima determined to hold an opposition celebration ... the demonstration here was a complete success." The article goes on to note that "the streets were literally blockaded with teams and hundreds of buggies," and that carriages and wagons were artistically wedged together for whole squares. "Early Wednesday morning, farmers and others commenced flocking to the city from the country and surrounding villages, and by nine o'clock the streets were a perfect jam of eager surging humanity, and getting through the throng was next to an impossibility. Business houses and private dwellings were liberally and handsomely decorated with flags, banners, streamers and evergreens, and everything wore a holiday aspect." A number of speeches were given, and the "most celebrated colored bands" from Cleveland, Urbana, Delaware and Findlay performed. In the evening, all were invited to a grand ball. Though Grant and Conkling sent their regrets, both wrote letters that were read at the gathering. The letter from Ulysses S. Grant, penned three years after his term as president, was written from Manitou Springs, Colorado, on Aug. 12, 1880. It reads in part: "Dear sir: I have your letter inviting me to attend the emancipation celebration to be held at Findlay, Ohio. You must accept my regrets ... Fully sympathize with the colored people of the United States in their efforts to become worthy citizens of a Republic that, theoretically, knows no difference of race, color, or previous condition of its electors, and hoping that the day is not far distant when the word 'practically' may be substituted for the word 'theoretically.'" The letter from Sen. Roscoe Conkling, a politician from New York, was penned from Utica on Sept. 2, 1880. It reads in part: "There can be few political occasions I would rather join in. If any men in any land deserve liberty, the protection of their Government, and opportunity, open, fair, free, and equal, it is the men in America who, after long injustice, injury, and oppression, earned their citizenship their moderation, and by loyal, heroic service, and whose charter of citizenship is written in the Nation's fundamental law. If there be in this hemisphere any race or class which, more than another, has been denied its rights and exposed to wrong, it is freedmen of America. This is a truth which ought to shame every white man in the United States, and his shame ought to be in proportion to the acts or omissions by which he has aided or suffered such wrongs to be. "Your celebration will help, and should help to bring the facts into the light. Do not hesitate to make the truth known. The truth is like a torch: the more it is shaken the brighter it burns."