All Episodes

January 1, 2025 8 mins

Watch Night has been observed on New Year’s Eve by African-American Methodists in the US since 1862, to mark the passage of the Emancipation Act. But this religious holiday goes back even farther in history, with even more layers of meaning.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff and a Happy
New Year to you. This is Short Stuff with the
Happy New Year edition. It's right.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
I believe this is coming out on New Year's Day,
so I guess I mean that's still Happy New Year.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah. Happy twenty five to you, Chuck, yeah, and to
you and to Jerry. Yeah. So it's appropriate that we
are talking about watch Night tonight because it is a
long standing tradition in the African American community, specifically the
African American Methodist community that every New Year's Eve they

(00:41):
typically hold a service starting maybe around seven pm, maybe
ten pm, and that it traditionally ends just after midnight
after the New Year. And the reason that it's so
deeply rooted in the African American community in the United
States is because there was the what's considered the first
watch Night in this tradition, came on December thirty first,

(01:05):
eighteen sixty two. The next day Abraham Lincoln's executive order
known as the Emancipation Proclamation would come into effect.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
That's right at the stroke of midnight, bringing in that
new year. Was a very special time obviously in America,
and it was called Freedom Eve for that reason as well.
But also watch night because you're you know, you're watching
that clock ticking towards freedom. When they gathered them that
first watch night, there were a lot of churches who

(01:37):
got together obviously still legally enslaved people, and they waited.
It's a pretty amazing tradition. You know. Beyond that, it
celebrates community, It celebrates faith obviously, and perseverance. There's a
description from the African American Museum that says, many congregants

(01:58):
across the nation bow and prayer me it's before the
midnight hour, as they sing out, watchman, watchman, please tell
me the hour of the night. In return, the minister
will reply, it is three minutes to midnight. It is
one minute before the new year. It is now midnight.
Freedom has come.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Yeah, pretty neat tradition. That's amazing. I say we take
it early a break and come back and talk a
little more about this tradition.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
All right, let's do it.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
So, Chuck. This is very much associated with again the
African American, specifically Methodist community. One of the other traditions
is that on New Year's Day, they'll have an amazing meal,
usually of Southern cuisine like Hopin' John. Of course, potato salad,
which is more German than Southern cornbread. That's a big one,

(03:04):
and it just sounds as delicious as can be. And
a lot of people say, like, Okay, yes, watch Night.
The first one ever was December thirty first, eighteen sixty two.
But what a lot of people don't understand is that
watch Night was already a tradition in the Methodist denomination.
So the enslaved Africans who got together for this first

(03:24):
watch Night were actually doing two things. They were observing
that traditional Methodist watch Night service, but this one was
extra special because of the Emancipation Proclamation coming into effect
the next day.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yeah, and it kind of took on a double meaning
at that point. Interestingly, it goes back to the Moravians,
who I know we've talked about more than once on
this show over the years.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
That doesn't sound right.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
The Moravians and I would be the Czech Republic now.
Way back in seventeen thirty three, John Wesley was the
founder of the Methodists, got it from the Moravians, brought
the watch Night vigil along to his denomination in about
seventeen forty. But these they would hold once a month
on full moons, they would have a service. I believe

(04:13):
the first one was in in the United States at
least was in seventeen seventy in Philadelphia at Old Saint
George's Church, and they continue to this day as Covenant
of Renewal Services. So, you know, it's a bit different
obviously than the meaning it would have later on with
the Emancipation Proclamation, but the double meaning is still held

(04:36):
true and dear.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah, in the original Watch Night and still today. One
of the big threads to it, or the point to it,
is to get Methodists to reflect on just how well
they're living their life. I think the Snopes put it
in a way that if you basically die tomorrow, yeah,
where are you going to go? Essentially? And then, I

(04:57):
guess is a pretty good thing to reflect on every
four weeks because a lot of stuff can happen in
four weeks.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
You know, I was doing good last month, this month
not so.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Much, right, But yeah, that eighteen sixty two Watch Night
just changed everything so much that people don't even associate
it with that original version, that Covenant Renewal Service any longer.
They just associated with it the freedom from slavery, and
of course the emancipation proclamation didn't just like immediately free slaves.

(05:29):
It did on paper. Legally, as far as the US
federal government was concerned, all enslaved people were free as
of January first, eighteen sixty three. But the United States,
the Union was at war with the Confederacy, and the
Confederacy wasn't exactly observing new federal laws, especially ones that
freed the enslaved people in the South.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Yeah, they weren't like, okay, well, comply it sounds good.

Speaker 1 (05:55):
No, it just did not go like that. But just
the gravity of what had just happened. This executive order
proclaimed by Lincoln, which apparently first came in September twenty second,
eighteen sixty two, he basically said, hey, everybody, get ready
for it, because on January first of next year, all
enslaved people are going to be free. He said that

(06:17):
all persons held as slaves within any state or designated
part of a state, the people whereof shall then be
in rebellion against the United States, shall be then thenceforward
and forever free. And there's probably no sweeter words for
enslaved people to hear coming out of Abraham Lincoln's mouth
at the time.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, and then Lincoln kind of grinned and said, man,
just wait that you see the statue they're going to
build up me. Yeah, it's going to be bossed like,
people are going to love me. This is going to
be so great. Yeah, and for great reason. These days,
the services can vary kind of depending on the congregation. Sometimes,
like you said, they'll start a little earlier in the

(06:56):
evening and maybe end at like ten o'clock, so you
can still go out and you know, celebrate New Years
however you want. Sometimes that is New Year's for you,
and you take it all the way to midnight. Depending
on the church, they might really emphasize the Emancipation Proclamation
aspect of it. Sometimes they might do that at all.
It kind of just depends on where you're going, because

(07:16):
it does. It is a night that very much has
two distinct meanings.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Yeah, for those congregants whose services end at ten, they're
very well known to hop in a cab and put
on their big oversized Nivia hat and to get me
to Times Square stat.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
That's one tradition. I've never had any interest in doing
me either.

Speaker 1 (07:39):
That sounds so terrible. I mean, of course, the legend
associated with it, which apparently is quite true. It's like
if you have to pe ts for you because you
have to stay in the same spot that you arrived
in and if you leave, you cannot come back in.
So if you want to stay there until midnight, buddy,
you better be able to hold your pee for like
six hours.

Speaker 2 (07:59):
You know, people are being in things.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
Right Yeah. You know if you look over somebody zoned
out and they have like a look of relief across
their face, they're peeing themselves right then?

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Yeah, why is that God drinking yellow gatorade?

Speaker 1 (08:14):
Crony? Yeah, short stuff is app Happy New Year, everybody.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For
more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Stuff You Should Know News

Advertise With Us

Follow Us On

Hosts And Creators

Chuck Bryant

Chuck Bryant

Josh Clark

Josh Clark

Show Links

AboutOrder Our BookStoreSYSK ArmyRSS

Popular Podcasts

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Bobby Bones Show

The Bobby Bones Show

Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.