BlackFacts.com presents the black fact of the day for May 20.

Emancipation in the State of Florida was proclaimed.

On May 20, 1865, Union Brigadier Gen. Edward McCook formally announced President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the Knott House in Tallahassee.

President Abraham Lincoln signed this proclamation on January 1, 1863, but it was not enforced in the South. 

On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed the slaves that the Civil War had ended and slavery had been abolished. 

The NAACP's Tallahassee branch has called on the Florida Legislature to officially recognize May 20 as Emancipation Day.

Emancipation Day has been celebrated in Florida annually on May 20th since 1865. It is a paid holiday for Tallahassee and Leon County employees.

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