The Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Gala has been a Galveston staple since 1992.
Donned in gowns and armed with a choreographed dance routine, teens in Galveston, Texas prepare each year to compete for the title of Miss Juneteenth ambassador.
The win comes with a crown, glory, and a scholarship – but it also carries the weight of both the holiday's heavy history and the country's dark past.
Juneteenth marks the day that the last enslaved Black Americans, who lived on the island city of Galveston, learned they were free on June 19, 1865, two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.
"To think of how long people were held in bondage, we're very proud to say it ended here," said Tommie Boudreaux, the chair of African American Heritage at the Galveston Historical Society.
That history acts as the backdrop to a gala aimed at uplifting future generations of Black Galveston teens in a city that has celebrated the holiday decades before it became a national holiday, amid the ongoing fight for racial equality.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but the day has been celebrated in Texas for decades. The Juneteenth Scholarship Gala has been a staple in Galveston since 1992.
Unlike the large marches, events and block parties seen today to honor the holiday, Boudreaux said that during the Jim Crow era, Black residents were wary about celebrating Juneteenth publicly and so pushed celebrations into private spaces, like churches and homes.
"I feel like getting that recognition for that holiday and uplifting these young girls in the community is something that's really important to us," said Jayden Moody, who was the second runner-up in the Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Gala.
For local Galveston teens, they say the gala is a chance to reclaim and uplift not just the region's history, but also their own connection to the past.
"It's a chance to embrace myself and my goals and remember what I'm here for, who my people were to get me here today," said Moody. "Because of their hard work and their freedom, I get to be the passionate person I am."
Dorothy Brown, the gala's organizer, wanted to offer additional support to local girls and their families wanting to access higher education.
"I was trying to help our young ladies get a nice education and let them know that they have someone helping the parents," Brown said. "I can remember when my children went to school … it was hard, my husband and I worked hard to get our kids to school."
Brown says Miss Juneteenth Scholarship Gala winners have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, and more. "It opened the door for so many opportunities that I couldn't even imagine or comprehend at the time," said Madison Swain, who won in 2023 and became the Miss Juneteenth ambassador.
Brown doesn't plan to end the volunteer-run scholarship program anytime soon, knowing the impact it has had on a community that she says feels like family.
"Well, I keep going because they're my daughters," said Brown. "I keep going because I love the young women and I want them to reach their goals and don't stop, just go – keep on going."
Learn more in the video above.
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