Galveston Daily News, June 30, 1867. Celebrations of what the freedmen called "Juneteenth," the anniversary of their emancipation, were regular annual events in later years. It is not known if the 1867 festival was the first or second such event. Rock was preceded on the speaker's platform by Columbus attorney Richard V. Cook. Both speakers were white men who urged the blacks to improve their economic situations through education, industry, frugality, and sobriety. Cook, a former Confederate officer, added his assurance that the white community always kept the best interests of the freedmen in mind.