New York (NY) Weekly Anglo-African, July 22, 1865

...This is an age of wonders, and not the least among them is the celebration of the Fourth of July at Camp Nelson, Ky., by the colored people. To see so many thousands, who a year ago were slaves, congregate in the heart of a slave State and celebrate the day sacred to the cause of freedom, "with none to molest or make afraid," was a grand spectacle. It was the first time we have ever been permitted to celebrate the Nation's Day. The celebration was under the management of Capt. [T. E.] Hall, and Rev. J. G. Fee. These men deserve much credit for their zeal and untiring activity in the cause of our race. The people gathered in from far and near. With several regiments of colored soldiers, with the thousands at the Refugee Home, and with the many from different parts of the country, the numbers swelled to many thousands. Such an assemblage of colored people on the "sacred soil of Kentucky" was never before beheld. The exercises consisted in martial music, songs, speeches, and declamations, with an interlude of a good dinner. The first part of the exercises were performed by the colored people themselves. The school-girls took an active part in the singing and recitations. Speeches, pointed and witty, were made by several colored speakers. In the afternoon, toasts were given and responded to in welltimed and effective remarks. Almost boundless enthusiasm prevailed throughout. In the forenoon, a review of the troops in this camp was held. Of all the regiments on review, ours seemed to take the banner for its soldier-like appearance. Through the kindness of the Lexington ladies, numbers of us have been receiving your excellent paper, for which we feel grateful. I would suggest to my friends in Lexington that they are behind in their efforts for the race. Other sections are sending up petitions and representatives to secure the rights of the colored people; but, either from fear or want of zeal, there is no special movement being made in that direction in my native city. If we would obtain our just privileges, we must strive for them. We must be willing to pay the same price that other people have always been compelled to pay. By laboring for our own cause we show, in the first place, that we understand and appreciate what our rights are; in the second place, that we have the courage and manhood to ask for them; in the third place, that we are determined, sooner or later, to have them. We need not expect those who have held us as slaves, and regarded us as incapable of an honorable position in government and society, to grant us that which we are indisposed to labor for….