For the first time in Muncie's history, residents gathered at McCulloch Park to celebrate "Juneteenth."
Juneteenth is recognized as the actual date when enslaved blacks in the United States were freed from slavery.
Although the Emancipation Proclamation was formally issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, it was not until June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, that all blacks were free.
"We realized that Muncie had never had a Juneteenth celebration," publisher of the Muncie Times Bea Foster said. "It's ignorance on one part and not having the knowledge or being exposed to the information on the other," Foster said.
The Muncie Times, the only black community paper in Muncie, sponsored the gathering to bring the community together. A baseball game by the Muncie Girls and Boys Club started the event.
The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on Texas because of the small number of Union troops to enforce the order. Granger's General Order Number 3 freed some 800,000 slaves in the Lone Star State.
"Texas became a stronghold of Confederate soldiers," reporter for the Muncie Times Maurice Taylor said.
Foster said she learned the news surrounding the date just recently. Foster learned of the event through press releases that were delivered to the Muncie Times. She then contacted other cities about the event.
"Only recently have I become extremely interested in Juneteenth, and being a southerner and an African American, I am ashamed, and because I am ashamed, I am doing something about it," Foster said.
Muncie resident Lonnie Johnson said younger generations don't see Juneteenth as a monumental date.
"Some of them see no point in history," Johnson said. "You need to know who your people are."
Johnson said he remembered celebrating the day in other locations before moving to Muncie in 1966.
The other cities in Indiana that have recognized the date this year are Evansville, Indianapolis, East Chicago, Gary, Bloomington and Columbus.
"Indiana is not one (state that has officially recognized Juneteenth) yet but there are cities recognizing the day," said chairman of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation Ronald V. Myers. The organization has been working with U.S. Rep. Julia Carson to get the date officially observed in Indiana.
Myers said President Bush has yet to address the event while he has observed other events such as Cinco de Mayo.
"It's shocking," Myers said. "He (Bush) has not been responsive. We are completely dumbfounded."
On Thursday, the actual day of Juneteenth, film producer Carolyn Johnson came to Muncie to share her documentary surrounding Juneteenth celebrations.
"Slavery was a day we should never forget," Foster said. "Sometimes people say 'Why do you always keep bringing up slavery?' My Jewish brothers and sisters will never let us forget the Holocaust, but there was also a black holocaust as it relates to slavery."
Foster said she invited people to the park through the Muncie Times and encouraged them to bring their families and food and enjoy the day. "It's not just black people, but people period," she said.
Foster said she was not sure how the turnout would be because this was the first time for recognizing the date.
"This is history, and no one should avoid history no matter what kind of history it is," Foster said.
Next year the Muncie Times intends to get more of the community involved to create a larger celebration, Foster said.
Director of the Multicultural Center Derick Virgil said the reason Indiana has not declared Juneteenth an official holiday is because there has not been a formal approach to making it an official holiday.
The earliest documented Juneteenth celebration was in Mexia, Texas, in 1898.
Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday in 12 states: Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Delaware, Idaho, Alaska, Iowa, California, Wyoming, Missouri, Connecticut and Illinois.
Other states that have recognized Juneteenth through their state legislatures are New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Louisiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Montana, Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey.
"We hope to have Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday within the next two to three years," Myers said.
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