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38 Morristown Magazine well as the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln and General Order No. 3 – the order that would finally reach the enslaved people of Texas, telling them of their freedom and becoming the basis for Juneteenth, which is now a national holiday. “I never thought in my lifetime I would see all of that, much less see everything in one day,” she said. “For me to actually lay my eyes on the documents and being able to see all of those in one day, emo- tionally it hit me, made me think about the whole construction of this country is – what it was built on,” she said. “That’s what democracy is about – to think about you’re looking at the document that went out to Texas to free the slaves. “It makes me very proud of being American. I’ve had the chance of tra- veling around the world, I always say there’s still nothing better than being home in the United States.” Alexander toured the archives the Sa- turday before Juneteenth, then retur- ned to Morristown for Juneteenth festi- vities locally. “It just really makes you very appre- ciative, coming back and having a very successful event we have here in Mo- rristown, Tenn.,” she said. I never thought in my lifetime I would see all of that, much less see every- thing in one day. For me to actually lay my eyes on the documents and being able to see all of those in one day, emotionally it hit me, made me think about the whole construction of this country is – what it was built on In addition to working in Women’s Athlet- ics Departments, Alexander spent a large portion of her career with the Nation- al YWCA orga- nization.