http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025186/1898-08-12/ed-1/seq-1.pdf Describe the events that occurred at Keokuk’s Emancipation Day Celebration, and explain the significance such events may have held for the community

The attached file is a scan from the Iowa State Bystander newspaper, dated August 12, 1898. It describes the events of the Keokuk Celebration 64 years since the emancipation of slaves in the West India islands and 35 years since the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States.
According to the article, the events were run by "colored citizens with their white friends," who celebrated their emancipation in Hubinger Park. Entertainment was offered and amusements were provided by various local committees; the only pall cast over the day was that failures of the local railroads meant that some expected guests from a neighboring town were unable to attend.
A parade was conducted around town, after which dinner was served by committees of ladies from local churches. In the context of the time, it appears that "dinner" means "lunch," as this meal preceded afternoon exercises in Hubinger Park.
At Hubinger Park, "prominent citizens of both races" took to a platform which had been set up in the middle of the amphitheater. There was a thriving crowd, and "the closest attention" was paid to the speakers. The audience together sung "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" and "Nearer My God To Thee." The mayor of the town welcomed all the visitors and described the occasion as "pleasurable." Importantly, addressing those both black and white alike, he said that the doors of the city "swing both ways" and had all been "unlocked."
A pastor, Reverend Helm, then gave a speech about the "wonderful progress of the Negro," whom he described as "the coming man." He also recognized that many blacks who had attempted to fight in the Civil War had been refused through no fault of their own and offered a "ponegyric" on all Americans, black and white alike. The editor of the Iowa Bystander also spoke, followed by the editor of The Negro Solicitor, whose wit and eloquence held the audience captive.
In this speech, the editor said that the black man "has done much, but he shouldn't be content to rest with that. He should press on until he has reached the top of the ladder." This speech, read today, seems ahead of its time: Taylor calls upon his fellow blacks to "convince your Caucasian neighbor that you are his equal man to man."
A rabbi, Rabbi Faber, then spoke about the oppression both the Jewish race and the black race had suffered and then a concert was performed to lighten the mood, followed by a baseball game and a "greased pole contest."
Following this, the play The South in Slavery by C.S. Sager was performed. Finally, the festivities were concluded with a selection of musical numbers. The article concludes with the comment that "the ministers are united and broad minded in Keokuk, good for that."
It is evident that the citizens of this town were indeed making a broad-minded and earnest attempt to recognize the progress black people had made since the Emancipation Proclamation, which would, no doubt, have been extremely encouraging to many black people in the area. It is also important to note that this article dates from 1898, when race relations in the United States were complicated by the Spanish-American war, which had fueled a debate over the citizens of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines and whether it was worth "conquering" people who could not be "made American," as Carnegie put it. As such, this concerted effort to celebrate Emancipation Day with a unifying ceremony for whites and blacks together, in which black people were encouraged to believe themselves capable of anything, may have been a welcome change to the racist rhetoric that had been stirred up by the Spanish-American conflict.