Al Edwards

1937 – 2020

A Texas state representative, Al Edwards organized Galveston's first modern annual Juneteenth commemoration at Ashton Villa in 1979 and successfully championed legislation making Juneteenth an official Texas state holiday in 1980, the first state in the nation to do so. A nine-foot bronze statue of Edwards, known as "The Legislator," now stands on the grounds of Ashton Villa.