It was on June 19, 1865, that slaves in Galveston, Texas, received word of their freedom — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863.

The date is commonly known as "Juneteenth," marking the oldest known celebration to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.

This weekend, downtown Lancaster will experience its own Juneteenth celebration.

The Lancaster Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lancaster will begin the annual celebration this evening.

While the program has been celebrated in the city by Lancaster Bethel AME for the past 14 years, a new program to honor Juneteenth is being held this weekend by the Crispus Attucks Community Center.

"This is new to us this year in that we are partnering with groups for the celebration," said Bethel Harambee Historical Services representative Phoebe Bailey, who is helping to coordinate the event this year.

In all, the events will feature historic re-enactors, a ceremony at Thaddeus Stevens' gravesite, a youth essay contest, church choirs performing at Crispus Attucks, children's storytelling and marches in the city, among other activities.

It is an opportunity to "come together," said the Rev. Edward M. Bailey, pastor of Lancaster Bethel AME church. "It is a day we all take one step … together … to pray for peace and liberty for all."

Today at 7 p.m. the film "Sanoka" will be shown at the Bethel Cultural Center, East Strawberry Street. The video highlights the experience of a modern-day woman who is sent back in time to the period of enslavement to help her to appreciate her present liberties and her ancestor's struggles for those liberties.

Younger children will be able to enjoy a "Fun Night" filled with activities in the youth room, during the film presentation.

On Saturday, Lancaster Bethel AME will continue its celebration at 11 a.m. at the Bethel Cultural Center, with a children's storytelling hour from 11 a.m. to noon.

At noon, a drum roll "call to attention" will be held outside the Bethel Cultural Center, Bailey said.

Following will be a march around the center, which will conclude with a playing of taps, a placement of flags at the tombstones of the United States Colored Troops who served in the Civil War, a poetry reading and a performance and a re-enactment related to the Underground Railroad.

Afterward, the Bethel Cultural center will offer a supper for participants, and discussion groups will meet to further understand the history behind the Juneteenth celebration.

Nearby, Crispus Attucks Community Center will begin its celebration at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Thaddeus Stevens' gravesite, near the corner of Mulberry and Chestnut streets, where a Thaddeus Stevens re-enactor will give a speech.

A "freedom walk" from the gravesite through the city will follow.

"We will be making a stop along the way by the convention center where the eventual Stevens-Smith house will be built," said Cripus Attucks executive director Cheryl Holland-Jones. "There, we will have a historian talk to us about Juneteenth."

The freedom walk will conclude at the Crispus Attucks center.

"Once we get to the center we will have a lot of groups doing several different celebrations," Holland-Jones said.

"It's an opportunity to share the history and celebrate the freedoms we have today," said Dr. Leroy Hopkins, a professor at Millersville University who will speak at Crispus Attucks Saturday.

Phoebe Bailey said she feels the same way. "We believe it is an event that is important to tell because of the work that we do here in telling and preserving African history that is here in Lancaster and is part of the fabric of the American story," she said.

"I think why people get confused is because we have been taught that once the Emancipation Proclamation came along, all of the Africans were free and everything was lovely. But that's not the case," she said.

"(President) Lincoln's edict was only valid in states controlled by federal troops. States in the deep South and West were not included until U.S. troops enforced freedom later in the war."

The Juneteenth celebrations will conclude around 4 p.m. Saturday.

For more information on the events at the Lancaster Bethel Cultural center, contact Bailey at 509-1177.

For more information on events at the Crispus Attucks center, contact Holland-Jones at 823-1944.

E-mail: jwalk@lnpnews.com