Editing Juneteenth (section)

====Prayer breakfast and commemorative celebrations====
[[File:Al Edwards Statue.jpg|thumb|upright|Al Edwards statue]]
In 1979, Democratic State Representative [[Al Edwards (politician)|Al Edwards]] of Houston successfully sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a paid Texas state holiday. The same year, he hosted the inaugural Al Edwards prayer breakfast and commemorative celebration on the grounds of the 1859 home, Ashton Villa. As one of the few existing buildings from the Civil War era and popular in local myth and legend as the location of Major General Granger's order, Edwards's annual celebration includes a local historian dressed as the Union general<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.galvnews.com/news/image_151ef2ae-1e20-52d4-bd52-2ed494ebe562.html|title=Juneteenth celebrated in Galveston|first=Jennifer|last=Reynolds|website=[[The Daily News (Texas)|The Daily News]]|date=June 19, 2020|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630160240/https://www.galvnews.com/news/image_151ef2ae-1e20-52d4-bd52-2ed494ebe562.html|url-status=live}}</ref> reading General Order No.&nbsp;3 from the second-story balcony of the home. The Emancipation Proclamation is also read and speeches are made.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/baytown-news/article/Galveston-to-receive-Juneteenth-statue-1865656.php|title=Galveston to receive Juneteenth statue|first1=Thayer|last1=Evans|date=June 15, 2006|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=June 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629023317/https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/baytown-news/article/Galveston-to-receive-Juneteenth-statue-1865656.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Houston-legislator-recalls-fight-for-Juneteenth-6336573.php|title=Houston legislator recalls fight for Juneteenth holiday|first=Harvey|last=Rice|date=June 19, 2015|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=June 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616123425/https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Houston-legislator-recalls-fight-for-Juneteenth-6336573.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Representative Al Edwards died of natural causes April&nbsp;29, 2020, at the age of 83,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Al-Edwards-former-state-rep-behind-bill-that-15234850.php|title=Al Edwards, former state rep behind bill that created Juneteenth, dies at 83|first=Jasper|last=Scherer|date=April 29, 2020|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=April 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430150010/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Al-Edwards-former-state-rep-behind-bill-that-15234850.php|url-status=live}}</ref> but the annual prayer breakfast and commemorative celebration continued at Ashton Villa, with the late legislator's son Jason Edwards speaking in his father's place.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.galvnews.com/news/free/article_fa956b38-1302-50f5-8bd3-b5397bde61e6.html|title=Galveston County Juneteenth events give voice to history, even amid pandemic|first=Matt|last=DeGrood|newspaper=[[The Daily News (Texas)|The Daily News]]|date=June 19, 2020|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630195742/https://www.galvnews.com/news/free/article_fa956b38-1302-50f5-8bd3-b5397bde61e6.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=John Wayne|last=Ferguson|url=https://www.galvnews.com/news/article_d8eab972-052d-5be2-a385-70b3c5b97918.html|title=After crises and loss, Juneteenth in Galveston 'feels different'|newspaper=[[The Daily News (Texas)|The Daily News]]|date=June 19, 2020|access-date=June 29, 2020|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630061107/https://www.galvnews.com/news/article_d8eab972-052d-5be2-a385-70b3c5b97918.html|url-status=live}}</ref>