I recently spent some time with my 3-year-old grandson. He’s curious and to learn more he asks questions like “Why does that car (a jeep) have no sides?” and “How come the playground with the red slide is in pieces?” While I could answer his question about the jeep, I had to investigate to find information about the playground.
Several events occurring in June have made me curious, so I decided to follow my grandson’s example and learn more.
The first event I’m curious about is Juneteenth. Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth is short for June 19, which according to history.com, “marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed.”
While Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January of 1863, the proclamation only applied to enslaved people in the states under Confederate control. Texas was not overly affected by the fighting of the Civil War and slavery continued there until “U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3: "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free."In 1866, those freed celebrated the day their freedom was announced, and celebrations continued each year, spreading throughout the U.S.
This year, Columbus will celebrate Juneteenth as the first of four Ethnic Expo events. Visit 4th Street on June 19 to experience cuisine, entertainment, and art put together with help from the Columbus/Bartholomew NAACP. You can find more information at ethnicexpo.org.
The next event I wanted to investigate is LGBTQ Pride Month. This occurs in June to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Police raided a gay bar at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, but some of the patrons fought back. Word of the raid spread through the city and protestors arrived, keeping the protests going for six days. The Stonewall Uprising is considered by many to be the beginning of the gay liberation movement.
According to the Library of Congress website, the first Pride march was held one year later to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising and “was meant to give the community a chance to gather together to "…commemorate the Christopher Street Uprisings of last summer in which thousands of homosexuals went to the streets to demonstrate against centuries of abuse….from government hostility to employment and housing discrimination, Mafia control of Gay bars, and anti-Homosexual laws.’”
Pride marches continue to occur in June across the U.S.
Locally, Mayor Jim Lienhoop recently issued a proclamation declaring June as Gay Pride Month in Columbus. While the proclamation acknowledges that some progress has been made on LGBTQ+ issues, Lienhoop states “Despite this progress, LGBTQ+ people in Indiana face disparities in employment, healthcare, education, housing, and many other areas central to the pursuit of happiness in the United States simply for who they are.” Columbus will have its third Pride Festival on Sept 18.
The final event I wanted to learn about is Father’s Day. The website history.com explains that while Sonora Smart Dodd was attending one of the first official Mother’s Day celebrations at her church in 1909, she thought fathers should also be honored for their loving service.
Sonora’s mother died when Sonora was just 16 leaving her father William to raise Sonora and her five younger brothers. In 1910, Sonora approached local churches to honor men like her father on June 5, her father’s birthday. The churches liked the idea but pushed the day back to the third Sunday in June to have time to organize their special services. Sonora worked for the next 60 years to make Father’s Day a national holiday, finally succeeding in 1972.
I am grateful for my father. He has taught me many things and continues to provide me with encouragement. My appreciation for him grew once I became a parent and now that I am a grandparent, I continue to look at the example he sets for me. I have also discovered that one perk of being a grandparent is watching my son as a father. I am grateful for the love and care he gives to his children.
I hope you have enjoyed the results of my curiosity. What are you curious about? Go investigate to find your answers.
