Candace Reese

Dr. Candace Reese is a Juneteenth scholar, writer, and lecturer. Dr. Reese works with corporations and colleges to celebrate Juneteenth and its significance beyond the holiday.

As the founder of the Juneteenth Pilgrimage, she leads an annual event where the descendants of John Menard Thomas, a slave to the founders of Galveston, meet on the island to take a pilgrimage journey from the Menard House, the oldest house in Galveston, where her foreparents were enslaved, to Ashton Villa, where the famed General Order No. 3 was believed to have been read by General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, freeing all slaves. The journey from the Menard House to Ashton Villa includes historic sites in Galveston where slaves could have learned of their freedom.

During her virtual Juneteenth Pilgrimages, she invites companies to meet her family and learn the history of the Juneteenth story and its significance to the Thomas family, who has been on the island for 175 years, and how this unique distinction helped make Juneteenth a state and federal holiday.

Dr. Reese is a researcher at Southern Methodist University and holds a Doctor of Liberal Studies degree with a focus in human development, humanities, and African American Studies. She holds a Master of Arts in English from Texas Southern University and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in African American Studies from the University of Houston. She has taught English and Humanities for the past two decades at Texas Southern University and Collin College.

EDUCATION

Doctor of Liberal Studies, Southern Methodist University (2023)

Master of Arts, Texas Southern University (2001)

Bachelor of Arts, University of Houston, (1999)

Lecturer, Are You Ready, Inc

Faculty, Collin College (2011-Present)

Faculty, Texas Southern University (1999-2011)

AWARDS

Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Program Honor Society

Southern Methodist University Doctor of Liberal Studies Fellowship

National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development International Award for Teaching Excellence

Thurgood Marshall Pathways Fellow for Positive Psychology

The Gallup Organization Fellowship for Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning

Miss Juneteenth

Dr. Candace Reese is an African American Studies scholar and professor of English and Humanities. Candace Reese was born Candace Thomas in Galveston, Texas, minutes from where the Emancipation Proclamation was delivered on June 19, 1865. She is the descendent of John (Fluker) Thomas (1849-1912), who was present at General Gordon Granger's 3rd Order reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, in 1865. Rev. James B. Thomas, her paternal grandfather, city councilman, and pastor, was instrumental in making Juneteenth a state and, ultimately, national holiday. Candace is a former Miss Juneteenth for the state of Texas. She hosts a Juneteenth Pilgrimage event with the Thomas family annually in Galveston. She is currently writing a book and filming a documentary on Juneteenth pilgrimages.