Walk to Freedom - Galveston to Houston

Discovering freedom one foot at a time is the way native born Texan, Frank Thompson, and his friend Ken Johnston are planning to commemorate Juneteenth this year.

The friends are planning to walk 51-miles from Galveston to Houston's Freedmen's Town to explore the deep power of memory Black heritage trails like the proposed Emancipation National Historic Trail offers.

Why We Are Fundraising

We are fundraising to assist with travel costs, paying for a rental vehicle and driver to follow us on the road in case of heat related or other emergencies, and also to help us with reaching out to local descendants who we plan to interview.

Goal Of the Walk

The goal of the Galveston to Houston Juneteenth Walk to Freedom is to commemorate the journey of the American ancestors forced off the land they labored over and into the hot sun, with no renumeration or place to go, after Emancipation. By tracing the footsteps of liberated slaves from Galveston to Houston, we hope to activate through the public presentation of walking the deep power of memory these historic heritage trails hold.

Frank Thompson

The walk will be Thompson’s first long distance hike across his home state honoring his ancestors who settled in Galveston and Houston between the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

"I grew up in Texas going to Juneteenth celebrations and didn’t learn the full history until I was in college. For me this walk is a chance to reconnect with my Texas roots including ancestors who were probably part of the original Juneteenth exodus."

Walk to Freedom

Walk to Freedom was started in 2018 by Johnston as walking performance art to evoke the power of memory in hidden or neglected historic American places.

Historical Background

Galveston, once the home of pirates and revolutionaries, was the largest slave market west of New Orleans. Its history is woven into a tapestry of Native American and Hispanic cultures, colonialism, slavery, race and immigration.

Liberation of free and enslaved African Americans on Galveston Island, surrounding counties, and all across Texas didn’t arrive until June 19, 1865, two years after the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and two months after the Confederate army surrendered.

The Emancipation National Historic Trail Act

In 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Emancipation National Historic Trail Act. “When passed by the Senate and enacted into law, it will result in the second trail in the United States that chronicles the experience of African Americans. Currently, the National Parks Service has only one National Historic Trail which centers on the African American experience. It is the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which covers a 54-mile path between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, and which was named a National Historic Trail in 1966.

The Selma to Montgomery Trail tells an important story about a pivotal moment in the nation’s struggle transitioning from a history of segregation towards the Civil Rights Movement,” wrote Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who sponsored legislation to have the route named the Emancipation National Historic Trail Act. The proposed National Park Service Emancipation NHT extends approximately 51 miles from the Osterman Building and Reedy Chapel in Galveston, Texas, along Texas State Highway 3 and Interstate Highway 45 North, to Freedmen’s Town, then to Independence Heights and Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas, following the migration route taken by newly freed slaves and other persons of African descent from the major 19th century seaport town of Galveston to the burgeoning community of Freedmen’s Town, located in the 4th Ward of Houston, Texas.

“I did not choose this path, it choose me, a strong urge I have been responding to since 2018,” said Johnston, adding “spirits need calling.”

“Black heritage trails like the proposed Emancipation Trail offer glimpses of a time past. Spirits, present and prickly, can be felt by the sun and wind sweeping across the occasional still Southeast Texas landscape.

The walk will be challenging due to the heat, with temperatures averaging in the 90s, Thompson said. “We could have chosen another time of the year, but that would not have provided the same authentic sensory experience Freedom Seekers endured fleeing Galveston during one of the hottest months of the year.

We plan to take the necessary precautions to be safe and start early in the day to limit the time spent in the direct sunlight.”

Another goal of the walk is to meet and interview descendants whose ancestors may have fled Galveston in 1865 or who continued to live on the island despite the oppressive conditions that existed after emancipation was enforced. In addition, I hope to also talk to descendants living in the Houston area whose family may have a connection to Freedmen’s Town.

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, please contact Ken Johnston for more information.