Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started

Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started is a compelling firsthand chronicle of Galveston's African American legacy-told through the voice of Izola Ethel Fedford Collins, a fifth-generation native whose family helped shape the cultural and civic foundation of Texas. Through intimate memoir and documented history, Collins uncovers the untold story of the people who lived, led, and lifted a community in the shadow of slavery and the dawn of freedom.

On the island of Galveston, Texas, the news of the Emancipation Proclamation arrived in June 1865-first whispered by deckhands and later declared publicly by General Granger at Ashton Villa. That moment, now known as Juneteenth, became a defining symbol of liberty for millions. But this story began long before the official order was read. Galveston was already home to free people of color, and its African American residents were pioneers in education, medicine, business, and faith.

Collins preserves the legacy of her grandfather-a freedman who came to Galveston as a child-and combines his handwritten accounts with community interviews and rich personal memory. The result is a powerful, living document that restores color to faded historical records and honors the voices too long left out of the official narrative.

Whether you're an educator, historian, student, or reader of memoirs, Island of Color invites you to rediscover the roots of Juneteenth and the vital contributions of Black Texans in one of America's most historic port cities.