Special Issue: Emancipation Day in Florida Readings
Important history that must not be forgotten
Today, May 20th, is Emancipation Day in Florida. This date commemorates the day in 1865 that Union General Edward M. McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation in Tallahassee, Florida. General McCook read the proclamation from the steps of the historic Knott House; located in the heat of historic downtown Tallahassee. Today the house is a museum (though currently closed for repairs) and outside its walls is an historic marker commemorating the moment.
The House is historic for many reasons, including the fact its construction in 1843 is believed to be by George Proctor, a free Black builder. Proctor’s life story is shrouded in mystery due to the lack of paper records, with most stories coming from his son. His presence in Tallahassee, which held a massive slave plantation system, as a free man, was very unique for its time.
Nationally, the end of slavery is celebrated with Juneteenth, June 19th. Florida’s date of May 20th stems from it being the recognized end of slavery in the state. After 1865, the 20th of May would be the major celebration date within the state. In 1997, Florida formally established the 20th of May as a day of celebration. Several jurisdictions celebrate both; with Gainesville notably treating Emancipation Day as the ‘Journey to Juneteenth.” Here in Leon County, May 20th is a county holiday and reenactments of the Knott House proclamation are held. This year’s reading will be at 11:30 am!
Just a few months before the dramatic reading at the Knott House, the US House passed the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. Though ratification would not be finalized until December of the year.
In honor of Emancipation Day, I wanted to offer up some selected readings to examine the important history of African-Americans in Florida. These are article’s I’ve written over the last few years, hardly covering every time I’ve touched the subject. As many of you know, I am especially eager to write about and explore African-American voting rights and electoral history. In the modern era, this often revolves around my focus on redistricting. However, I’ve also delved into the archives to bring much older stories to life.
Emancipation Day Readings
The article I would recommend the most is my piece from last year for Emancipation Day. Here in Issue 109, I look at the electoral developments in Florida in early reconstruction. The story if one of betrayal by white carpetbagger Republicans, who aimed to use black voters just enough to secure their own victories while passing a constitution that prevent a Black-majority legislature and the buildup of Black power in the counties.
The saga is tragic, as it often involves African-Americans being forced to side with the carpetbaggers simply to prevent the vehemently anti-Black Democratic officials from coming into power. Of course, like the rest of the south, Democratic Party rule would return to Florida, and with it a Jim Crow constitution would be passed to legalize the Black voter suppression that had already begun with violence.
That issue can be followed up with #155, which looks at the efforts to register African-Americans in the 1940s. These efforts came after the state’s whites-only primary was struck down and after the state abolished its poll tax. In this respect, Florida was different from other parts of the south, which did not have the state apparatus violently working to suppress voting rights - ala Alabama or Mississippi. The article does, however, go into the real dangers that existed; which varied by county.
Issue #155: Registering 100,000 Black Voters in 1940s Jim Crow Florida
These efforts, which succeeded in bringing over 100,000 Black voters into the rolls between 1945 and 1950 alone, were spearheaded by the NAACP and Harry & Harriette Moore. Both would be assassinated by the KKK in 1951 as Harry led an investigation against Lake County Sheriff Willis V. McCall over the murder of the Groveland Four boys.
Following the efforts of Moore and the NAACP, voter registration efforts would continue in Florida through the 1950s. However, several counties remained violently hostile to such efforts. For this era, I looked at the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and how it impacted Florida’s voter roll.
This piece does well to highlight that the biggest gain in African-American voter registration actually took place in time for the 1964 election. This was a result of major national scrutiny on the denial of voting rights, which led to most counties abandoning more subtle efforts to discourage registration. However, other counties, like Liberty, only saw successful voter registration efforts AFTER the 1965 Voting Rights Act. In Florida, the act was a bigger effect on counties still operating similar to Alabama or Mississippi by that point.
The Tallahassee Series
As many of you know, I have been working on a series about Black voting power and Black candidates in Tallahassee, FL. My series, which started in February and will continue through the summer, is tracking the evolution of the city from a racially conservative southern town and into the more liberal epicenter it is today. I started the series by looking at the first Black candidate since reconstruction, who faced off with a vehement segregationist in 1957. I followed this up with a look at Civil Rights debates within the city and more Black candidates stepping up to run. Then in 1971, James Ford became the city’s first black commissioner. These issues are seen below.
Ford’s election is a milestone, but it still came at a time where the major concerns of Black voters were not being heeded. Ford’s election came with heavy white backing, forcing him to tow a line to aid Black residents and speak on their issues while not alienating the more conservative white majority. My issues that followed, and I’m currently through Issue 6, look at future candidates that would emerge speaking on Black issues; and suffering electoral failure as a result. However, my series will soon get to the point where the tide changes and the city’s evolution leads to new electoral success for prominent Black leaders.
An archive of my series can be seen here.
With that, have a great day!