Citizens of all ages, including children from local schools, sat in lawn chairs across from the historic Knott House Museum to commemorate May 20, 1865, when the Emancipation Proclamation was first read in Florida and all enslaved people in the state gained their freedom.

The date is separate from Juneteenth, which commemorates the day that enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. Texas was the last state to honor the Emancipation Proclamation.

The event included a performance from the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and a re-enactment of the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of the Knott House on Park Avenue, where the original reading took place more than 150 years ago.