Juneteenth; Photographs of Texas Freedom Colonies
This Juneteenth, I wanted to share images of Freedom Colonies I have photographed throughout the years. For those unfamiliar with Juneteenth, it is “America’s second Independence Day.” June 19, 1865 was the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to ensure all enslaved Black Americans were freed — two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Though Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, it is a day that many Texans have celebrated since 1866 and has been a state holiday since 1980.
Throughout the past decade, I have visited and documented many of Texas’ Freedom Colonies. Freedom Colonies were communities settled by formerly enslaved people during the Reconstruction and the Jim Crow eras, providing a safe place for Black Texans to live independently and away from the perils of a hostile society. Though many of Texas’ Freedom Colonies are disappearing due to gentrification, natural disaster, and land dispossession, The Texas Freedom Colonies Project is working to identify and preserve these communities. Their website is a valuable resource and provides an atlas with information about each community, as well as a plethora of resources to get involved.
If you’d like to purchase any of the photographs in this series, please send me an email. All proceeds will be donated to the Texas Freedom Colonies Project.
Please note: some information in these paragraphs were taken directly from the Texas Freedom Colonies Project website to ensure accuracy and raise awareness for their mission. All credit goes to them and their extensive research. Please visit their website to learn more.
St. John Colony, Texas; May 2022
St. John Zion Union Baptist Church in St. John Colony, Texas. Though it is unclear when the church was built, it closed roughly ten years ago and has since fallen into disrepair. St. John Colony was founded in 1872 and sits roughly 34 miles from Austin. Though the town is considered an unincorporated community, it has hosted a vibrant Juneteenth celebration for over 150 years. You can read more about the town on its website or you can read this excellent piece by the Austin American-Statesman.
Salem (Peach Creek), Texas; May 2022
The one room schoolhouse in Salem (Peach Creek), Texas. Salem is two miles outside of Jeddo, Texas. This schoolhouse was built sometime in the early 1880s and had one teacher for 29 Black students in 1881. By 1905, the classroom grew to 55 students. There is no information available about when it closed and today all that remains is the structure, a small playground to the right, and a cemetery.
Fodice, Texas; December 2019
Mount Pleasant C.M.E. Church in Fodice, Texas, included in my book Texas Textures. There isn’t any documentation for when Mount Pleasant C.M.E. Church was built, though it was most likely sometime round 1941. The first iteration of the church was constructed in 1885 when land was donated to church trustees, but it was destroyed by a tornado in 1941. The original church was both a place of worship and a school until a newer school was built in 1900.
Peyton Colony, Texas; September 2016
The Peyton Colony schoolhouse served first through eight grade students from 1877 to 1963. The town was founded in 1865 by Peyton Roberts, a formerly enslaved person from Lockhart, Texas who had acquired the land by preemption. Other Freedmen followed suit and soon the town had a church and school.
