Juneteenth Jamboree

The History of Blacks in Texas

In 2007, Gov. Rick Perry named Prof. Frank de la Teja from Cuba and Texas State University as the very first State Historian of Texas. And Dr. de la Teja honors the very first episode of Juneteenth Jamboree with a reading of the standard history of Africans in Texas, beginning with the story of Estavanico during Spanish rule; Mexican independence; Texas’ ascension to statehood; and proceeding to the Civil War through to Emancipation Day and the Civil Rights movement.

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