Author: Christie Williams

Juneteenth celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park. Credit: Austin History Center.

On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in the Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom.

But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas.

The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200+ years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.

Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.

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Source: Smithsonian

Halmos College is becoming a center of robotic oceanography! In cooperation with Teledyne Webb Research (TWR), the Halmos College Physical Oceanography Laboratory is pioneering the application of a new family of ocean gliders that, for the first time, can operate in strong currents like the Gulf Stream. These robotic instruments provide an unprecedented spatial resolution and report data through a satellite.

On February 10-14, eighteen participants from various institutions, companies, and government agencies from the USA, Canada, Estonia, Peru, Spain, and France gathered at NSU’s Oceanographic Campus to share experience and be trained in piloting these ocean gliders. This was the second annual glider training event conducted at NSU Halmos College’s Ocean Engineer Terry Thompson and Graduate Research Assistant and master’s student Mikayla Craven joined the ranks of trained glider pilots.