The History of The Gullah’s Freedom’s Eve ~ Watch Night

Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor....
The watch night service took on a new meaning on Dec. 31, 1862, as people of African descent in the Beaufort and Port Royal gathered under a large oak tree at Camp Saxton. The following day, January 1, 1863, they heard the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. That tree still stands today on the site of the U.S. Naval Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina.