I see in today's New York Times that Delegate Frank D. Hargrove (R-??) now suggests that Virginia officially celebrate "Juneteenth" (June 19, 1865).  I have a couple of other suggestions since Juneteenth was originally a Texas emancipation celebration.

In Virginia, many urban emancipation celebrations took place on January 1, I suspect because that was the date when the final Emancipation Proclamation took effect.  In the rural Southside, firmly documented in Boydton, Mecklenburg County, the annual celebration of emancipation from 1866 until right around WW II was April 9.  April 9 presumably celebrated the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to the various Union armies involved in the complex assault on Richmond usually called the Siege of Petersburg.

Harold S. Forsythe

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html