Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name is a portmanteau of the words "June" and "nineteenth", as it was on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Grangerordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War.[8][9] In the Civil War period, slavery came to an end in various areas of the United States at different times. Many enslaved Southerners escaped, demanded wages, stopped work, or took up arms against the Confederacy of slave states. In January 1865, Congress finally proposed the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution for national abolition of slavery. By June 1865, almost all enslaved were freed by the victorious Union Army, or abolition laws in some of the remaining U.S. states. When the national abolition amendment was ratified in December, the remaining enslaved in Delaware and in Kentucky were freed.
Early celebrations date back to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South among newly freed African American slaves and their descendants and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. Participants in the Great Migration brought these celebrations to the rest of the country. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, these celebrations were eclipsed by the nonviolent determination to achieve civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African-American freedom and African-American arts. Beginning with Texas by proclamation in 1938, and by legislation in 1979, every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has formally recognized the holiday in some way.
The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when the 117th US Congress enacted and President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. Juneteenth became the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983.[11]
Celebrations and traditions
What Is Juneteenth?, a 2020 video by the House Democratic CaucusTraditional African dance and music performed for Juneteenth, 2019
The holiday is considered the "longest-running African-American holiday"[12] and has been called "America's second Independence Day."[13][14] Juneteenth falls on June19 and has often been celebrated on the third Saturday in June. Historian Mitch Kachun considers that celebrations of the end of slavery have three goals: "to celebrate, to educate, and to agitate."[15]
Early celebrations consisted of baseball, fishing, and rodeos. African Americans were often prohibited from using public facilities for their celebrations, so they were often held at churches or near water. Celebrations were characterized by elaborate large meals and people wearing their best clothing.[12] It was common for formerly enslaved people and their descendants to make a pilgrimage to Galveston.[16] As early festivals received news coverage, Janice Hume and Noah Arceneaux consider that they "served to assimilate African-American memories within the dominant 'American story'".[17]
Juneteenth celebrations often include lectures and exhibitions on African-American culture.[15] The modern holiday places much emphasis on teaching about African-American heritage. Karen M. Thomas wrote in Emerge that "community leaders have latched on to [Juneteenth] to help instill a sense of heritage and pride in black youth." Celebrations are commonly accompanied by voter registration efforts, the performing of plays, and retelling stories.[24] The holiday is also a celebration of soul food and other food with African-American influences. In Tourism Review International, Anne Donovan and Karen DeBres write that "Barbecue is the centerpiece of most Juneteenth celebrations."[25] Major news networks host specials and marathons on national outlets featuring prominent Black voices.[26]
The Black Seminoles of Nacimiento in Mexico hold a festival and reunion, known as el Día de los Negros on June 19.[27][28][29] Many former British colonies celebrate Emancipation Day on August 1, commemorating the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. Since 2021, the United Nations has designated August 31 as the International Day for People of African Descent.[30]
History
Abolition of slavery in the United States in the Civil War period (the blues and darker greens in the above map occurred before the Civil War period):
Exclusion of slavery by Congressional action, 1861
Abolition of slavery by Congressional action, 1862
Emancipation Proclamation as originally issued, January 1, 1863
Subsequent operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863
Abolition of slavery by state action during the Civil War
Operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1864
Operation of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865
Thirteenth Amendment to the US constitution, December 18, 1865
Territory incorporated into the US after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment
Areas covered by the Emancipation Proclamation are in red. Slave-holding areas not covered are in blue.
On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced that the Emancipation Proclamation would go into effect on January 1, 1863, promising freedom to enslaved people in all of the rebellious parts of Southern states of the Confederacy including Texas.[31][32][c][d] Enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied upon the advance of Union troops. Texas, as the most remote state of the former Confederacy, had seen an expansion of slavery because the presence of Union troops was low as the American Civil War ended; thus, the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation had been slow and inconsistent there prior to Granger's order.[9] In all June 19, 1865, was 900 days after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, 71 days after Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union on April 9, 1865, and 24 days after the disbanding of the Confederate military department covering Texas on May 26, 1865.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), emancipation came at different times in different parts of the Southern United States. Large celebrations of emancipation, often called Jubilees (recalling the biblical Jubilee, in which enslaved people were freed), took place on September22, January1, July4, August1, April6, and November1, among other dates. When emancipation finally came to Texas, on June 19, 1865, as the southern rebellion collapsed, celebration was widespread.[35] While that date did not actually mark the unequivocal end of slavery, even in Texas, June 19 came to be a day of shared commemoration across the United States–created, preserved, and spread by ordinary African Americans–of slavery's wartime demise.[9]
Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in the midst of the Civil War on September 22, 1862, declaring that if the rebels did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union, all enslaved people in the Confederacy would be freed on the first day of the year.[36] On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all enslaved people in the Confederate States of America in rebellion and not in Union hands were freed.[36][c]
Planters and other slaveholders from eastern states had migrated into Texas to escape the fighting, and many brought enslaved people with them, increasing by the thousands the enslaved population in the state at the end of the Civil War.[9] Although most lived in rural areas, more than 1,000 resided in Galveston or Houston by 1860, with several hundred in other large towns.[37] By 1865, there were an estimated 250,000 enslaved people in Texas.[9][8]
Despite the surrender of Confederate General-in-Chief Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House on April9, 1865, the western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi did not formally surrender until June 2.[9] On the morning of June19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston[38] to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its enslaved population and oversee Reconstruction, nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers.[38][39] The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all enslaved people were free:
The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.[40]
Longstanding urban legend places a historic reading of General Order No.3 at Ashton Villa; but no historical evidence supports this claim.[41] There is no evidence that Granger or any of his troops proclaimed the Ordinance by reading it aloud. All indications are that copies of the Ordinance were posted in public places, including the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church.[42]
On June21, 2014, the Galveston Historical Foundation and Texas Historical Commission erected a Juneteenth plaque where the Osterman Building once stood signifying the location of Major General Granger's Union Headquarters believed to be where he issued his general orders.[43]
Although this event commemorates the end of slavery, emancipation for the remaining enslaved in two Union border states, Delaware and Kentucky, would not come until December6, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified;[44][c][e] furthermore, thousands of black slaves were not freed until after the Reconstruction Treaties of late 1866, when tribes such as the Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, and others were forced to sign new treaties that required them to free their slaves.[46]
The freedom of formerly enslaved people in Texas was given state law status in a series of Texas Supreme Court decisions between 1868 and 1874.[47]
Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 formally informing Texas residents that slavery had ended.
Formerly enslaved people in Galveston rejoiced after General Order No. 3.[48] One year later, on June19, 1866, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became annual commemorations of "Jubilee Day."[40] Early celebrations were used as political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed African Americans.[49] Other independence observances occurred on January1 or4.[50]
In some cities, Black people were barred from using public parks because of state-sponsored segregation of facilities. Across parts of Texas, freed people pooled their funds to purchase land to hold their celebrations.[9][40] The day was first celebrated in Austin in 1867 under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, and it had been listed on a "calendar of public events" by 1872.[44] That year, Black leaders in Texas raised $1,000 for the purchase of 10 acres (4ha) of land, today known as Houston's Emancipation Park, to celebrate Juneteenth.[51]
The observation was soon drawing thousands of attendees across Texas. In Limestone County, an estimated 30,000 Black people celebrated at Booker T. Washington Park, established in 1898 for Juneteenth celebrations.[44][12] The Black community began using the word Juneteenth for Jubilee Day early in the 1890s.[8] The word Juneteenth appeared in print in the Brenham Weekly Banner, a white newspaper from Brenham, Texas, as early as 1891.[52] Mentions of Juneteenth celebrations outside of Texas appeared as early as 1909 in Shreveport, Louisiana.[53]
Decline of celebrations during the Jim Crow era
In the early 20th century, economic and political forces led to a decline in Juneteenth celebrations. From 1890 to 1908, Texas and all former Confederate states passed new constitutions or amendments that effectively disenfranchised Black people, excluding them from the political process. White-dominated state legislatures passed Jim Crow laws imposing second-class status.[54] Gladys L. Knight writes the decline in celebration was in part because "upwardly mobile blacks ... were ashamed of their slave past and aspired to assimilate into mainstream culture. Younger generations of blacks, becoming further removed from slavery were occupied with school ... and other pursuits." Others who migrated to the Northern United States could not take time off or simply dropped the celebration.[12]
The Great Depression forced many Black people off farms and into the cities to find work, where they had difficulty taking the day off to celebrate. From 1936 to 1951, the Texas State Fair served as a destination for celebrating the holiday, contributing to its revival. In 1936, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people joined the holiday's celebration in Dallas. In 1938, Governor of Texas James Allred issued a proclamation stating in part:[55]
Whereas, the Negroes in the State of Texas observe June19 as the official day for the celebration of Emancipation from slavery; and
Whereas, June19, 1865, was the date when General [Gordon] Granger, who had command of the Military District of Texas, issued a proclamation notifying the Negroes of Texas that they were free; and
Whereas, since that time, Texas Negroes have observed this day with suitable holiday ceremony, except during such years when the day comes on a Sunday; when the Governor of the State is asked to proclaim the following day as the holiday for State observance by Negroes; and
Whereas, June19, 1938, this year falls on Sunday; NOW, THEREFORE, I, JAMES V. ALLRED, Governor of the State of Texas, do set aside and proclaim the day of June20, 1938, as the date for observance of EMANCIPATION DAY
in Texas, and do urge all members of the Negro race in Texas to observe the day in a manner appropriate to its importance to them.
Seventy thousand people attended a "Juneteenth Jamboree" in 1951.[55] From 1940 through 1970, in the second wave of the Great Migration, more than five million Black people left Texas, Louisiana and other parts of the South for the North and the West Coast. As historian Isabel Wilkerson writes, "The people from Texas took Juneteenth Day to Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, and other places they went."[56] In 1945, Juneteenth was introduced in San Francisco by a migrant from Texas, Wesley Johnson.[57]
During the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement focused the attention of African Americans on expanding freedom and integrating. As a result, observations of the holiday declined again, though it was still celebrated in Texas.[49][50]
Band performing in Texas for Emancipation Day, 1900
In 1974, Houston began holding large-scale celebrations again,[8] and Fort Worth, Texas, followed the next year. Around 30,000 people attended festivities at Sycamore Park in Fort Worth the following year.[49] The 1978 Milwaukee celebration was described as drawing over 100,000 attendees.[58] In 1979, the Texas Legislature made the occasion a state holiday.[59] In the late 1980s, there were major celebrations of Juneteenth in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.[8]
Prayer breakfast and commemorative celebrations
Al Edwards statue
In 1979, Democratic State Representative Al Edwards of Houston successfully sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a paid Texas state holiday. The same year, he hosted the inaugural Al Edwards prayer breakfast and commemorative celebration on the grounds of the 1859 home, Ashton Villa. As one of the few existing buildings from the Civil War era and popular in local myth and legend as the location of Major General Granger's order, Edwards's annual celebration includes a local historian dressed as the Union general[60] reading General Order No.3 from the second-story balcony of the home. The Emancipation Proclamation is also read and speeches are made.[61][62] Representative Al Edwards died of natural causes April29, 2020, at the age of 83,[63] but the annual prayer breakfast and commemorative celebration continued at Ashton Villa, with the late legislator's son Jason Edwards speaking in his father's place.[64][65]
Official statewide recognitions
In the late 1970s, when the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a "holiday of significance ... particularly to the blacks of Texas,"[50] it became the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday.[66] The bill passed through the Texas Legislature in 1979 and was officially made a state holiday on January1, 1980. Before 2000, three more U.S. states officially observed the day, and over the next two decades it was recognized as an official observance in all states, except South Dakota, until becoming a federal holiday.[4]
Juneteenth in pop culture and the mass media
Since the 1980s and 1990s, the holiday has been more widely celebrated among African-American communities and has seen increasing mainstream attention in the US.[12][67] In 1991, there was an exhibition by the Anacostia Community Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution) called "Juneteenth '91, Freedom Revisited."[16] In 1994, a group of community leaders gathered at Christian Unity Baptist Church in New Orleans to work for greater national celebration of Juneteenth.[12][67] Expatriates have celebrated it in cities abroad, such as Paris.[20] Some US military bases in other countries sponsor celebrations, in addition to those of private groups.[20][68] In 1999, Ralph Ellison's novel Juneteenth was published, increasing recognition of the holiday.[69] By 2006, at least 200 cities celebrated the day.[16]
In 1997, activist Ben Haith created the Juneteenth flag, which was further refined by illustrator Lisa Jeanne Graf. In 2000, the flag was first hoisted at the Roxbury Heritage State Park in Boston by Haith. The star at the center represents Texas and the extension of freedom for all African Americans throughout the whole nation. The burst around the star represents a nova and the red curve represents a horizon, standing for a new era for African Americans. The red, white, and blue colors represent the American flag, which shows that African Americans and their enslaved ancestors are Americans, and the national belief in liberty and justice for all citizens.[70][71]
The holiday gained mainstream awareness outside African-American communities through depictions in media, such as episodes of TV series Atlanta (2016)[72] and Black-ish (2017),[73] the latter of which featured musical numbers about the holiday by Aloe Blacc, The Roots,[74] and Fonzworth Bentley.[75][76] In 2018, Apple added Juneteenth to its calendars in iOS under official U.S. holidays.[77] Some private companies have adopted Juneteenth as a paid day off for employees, while others have officially marked the day in other ways, such as a moment of silence.[78][79]
In 2020, several American corporations and educational institutions, including Twitter, the National Football League, Nike, began treating Juneteenth as a company holiday, providing a paid day off to their workers,[80] and Google Calendar added Juneteenth to its U.S. Holidays calendar.[81] Also in 2020, a number of major universities formally recognized Juneteenth,[82][83] either as a "day of reflection" or as a university holiday with paid time off for faculty and staff.[83]
The 2020 mother-daughter film on the holiday's pageant culture, Miss Juneteenth, celebrates African-American women who are "determined to stand on their own," while a resourceful mother is "getting past a sexist tendency in her community to keep women in their place."[84]
Becoming a federal holiday
President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, June 17, 2021. Opal Lee is third from left.
In 1996, the first federal legislation to recognize "Juneteenth Independence Day" was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.J.Res.195, sponsored by Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI). In 1997, Congress recognized the day through Senate Joint Resolution11 and House Joint Resolution56. In 2013, the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution175, acknowledging Lula Briggs Galloway (late president of the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage), who "successfully worked to bring national recognition to Juneteenth Independence Day", and the continued leadership of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.[85]
In the 2000s and 2010s, activists continued a long process to push Congress towards official recognition of Juneteenth.[86] Organizations such as the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation sought a Congressional designation of Juneteenth as a national day of observance.[9] By 2016, 45 states were recognizing the occasion.[59] Activist Opal Lee, often referred to as the "grandmother of Juneteenth",[87] campaigned for decades to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, leading walks in many states to promote the idea.[88] In 2016–17 at the age of 89, she led a symbolic walk from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington D.C. to advocate for the federal holiday.[59][89] When it was officially made a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, she was standing beside President Joe Biden as he signed the bill.[88]
Juneteenth became one of five date-specific federal holidays along with New Year's Day (January1), Independence Day (July4), Veterans Day (November11), and Christmas Day (December25). Juneteenth is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared a holiday in 1986.[90][91][92] Juneteenth also falls within the statutory Honor America Days period, which lasts for 21 days from Flag Day (June 14) to Independence Day (July 4).
Legal observance
State and local holiday
Adoption of Juneteenth as a commemoration or holiday in the US by states, in the years before the federal holiday in 2021
Recognized before 2000
Recognized between 2000 and 2009
Recognized between 2010 and 2021
As of 2023, 24 of these states and the District of Columbia have also made it a paid holiday for state or district workers. Federal government employees in all states are covered by the federal holiday.
Texas was the first state to recognize the date by enacted law, in 1980. By 2002, eight states officially recognized Juneteenth[93] and four years later 15 states recognized the holiday.[50] By 2008, just over half of the states recognized Juneteenth in some way.[94] By 2019, 47 states and the District of Columbia recognized Juneteenth,[95] although as of 2020 only Texas had adopted the holiday as a paid holiday for state employees.[96]
In June 2019, Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Wolf recognized Juneteenth as a holiday in the state.[97] In the yearlong aftermath of the murder of George Floyd that occurred on May 25, 2020, nine states designated Juneteenth a paid holiday,[98] including New York, Washington, and Virginia.[99] In 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued a proclamation that the day would be marked as "Juneteenth Independence Day." This followed the filing of bills by both the House and Senate to make Juneteenth a state holiday. Baker did not comment on these bills specifically but promised to grant the observance of Juneteenth greater importance.[100] On June 16, 2021, Illinois adopted a law changing its ceremonial holiday to a paid state holiday.[101]
Some cities and counties have also recognized Juneteenth through proclamation. In 2020, Juneteenth was formally recognized by New York City (as an annual official city holiday and public school holiday, starting in 2021).[102][103]Cook County, Illinois, adopted an ordinance to make Juneteenth a paid county holiday.[104] The City and County of Honolulu recognizes it as an "annual day of honor and reflection",[105] and Portland, Oregon (as a day of remembrance and action and a paid holiday for city employees).[106]
North Dakota approved recognition of Juneteenth as a state-recognized annual holiday on April 13, 2021,[107] with Hawaii becoming the 49th state to recognize the holiday on June 16, 2021.[f][108][109] On June 16, 2020, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem proclaimed that the following June 19, 2020, was to be Juneteenth Day for that year only, spurning calls for it to be recognized annually, rather than just for 2020.[110] In February 2022, South Dakota became the last state to recognize Juneteenth as an annual state holiday or observance.[111] Its law provided for following the federal law even before it was official.[112] On May 2, 2022, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill changing the state's ceremonial observance to a state holiday and it is now the 11th state holiday in Colorado.[113]
As of 2024, 27 states and the District of Columbia have made Juneteenth an annualized paid holiday for state employees, with the remainder maintaining at least a ceremonial observance (New Mexico's personnel board declared it a paid worker holiday, although it is not a statutory holiday in New Mexico).[114] Additional states may observe it as a paid holiday for state workers but rely on a decision, often of the governor, in each year, instead of perpetual by statute, which may or may not occur again the next year. Local governments including counties and municipalities also may close their offices and pay their workers time-off.[115] The table below only includes the state's with perpetual, annual, paid holiday laws identified by the Congressional Research Service in 2023 or subsequent sources:[116]
President Joe Biden signed the bill (Pub. L.117–17 (text)(PDF))[130][131] on June17, 2021, making Juneteenth the eleventh American federal holiday and the first to obtain legal observance as a federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designated in 1983.[132][91][92] According to the bill, federal government employees will now get to take the day off every year on June 19, or should the date fall on a Saturday or Sunday, they will get the Friday or Monday closest to the Saturday or Sunday on which the date falls.[133]
↑ First observed on Federal calendars on Friday, June 18, 2021, then Monday, June 20, 2022, per Federal law (5U.S.C.§6103), establishing that holidays falling on a Saturday or Sunday are observed on the Friday prior (if the holiday falls on Saturday) or the Monday following (if the holiday falls on Sunday).[7]
1 2 3 Enslaved people in Union hands had not been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation due to the limited scope of presidential "war powers". See Emancipation Proclamation#Coverage for more information.
↑ Although the Emancipation Proclamation declared an end to slavery in the Confederate States, it did not end slavery in the places that were then deemed loyal to the Union (the border states, nor in certain counties or parishes of Louisiana and Virginia). Freedom there generally came through other methods before the end of the war. But as a result, for a short while after the fall of the Confederacy, slavery remained legal in Delaware and Kentucky.[33][34] Those enslaved people were not freed until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished chattel slavery nationwide, on December 6, 1865.
↑ Unlike in Texas, where slavery grew during the war, in Kentucky, due largely to Union military measures and escapes to Union lines, the number of those enslaved fell by over 70%.[45]
↑ In June 2020, Hawaii's first African-American Miss Hawaii USA, Samantha Neyland, founded Hawaii for Juneteenth, a coalition and grassroots movement. Hawaii for Juneteenth lobbied the Hawaii State Legislature into successfully passing SB939, introduced by Senator Glenn Wakai and signed into law by Governor David Ige on June16,2021.
↑ Donovan, Anne; DeBres, Karen (2006). "Foods of Freedom: Juneteenth as a Culinary Tourist Attraction". Tourism Review International. 9 (4). Putnam Valley, New York: Cognizant Communication Corporation: 379–389. doi:10.3727/154427206776330562.
↑ "Mascogos. Siempre listos para partir". El Universal (in Spanish). September 19, 2016. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017. Sin embargo, la fiesta de la comunidad es el 19 de junio – el Juneteenth Day en Estados Unidos – el día que los esclavos de Galveston, Texas, supieron que eran libres.
↑ Harrison, Lowell H. (Fall 1983). "Slavery in Kentucky: A Civil War Casualty". The Kentucky Review. 5 (1). Lexington, Kentucky: University of Kentucky: 38–40.
↑ "The emancipation celebration". Brenham Weekly Banner. June 25, 1891. p.7. Archived from the original on June 19, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2024. There was not so many colored people in the city as usual on Saturday evening, all of them, very near, being out at the 'Juneteenth siliibration.'
1 2 Wiggins, William H. Jr. (1987). "Juneteenth: A Red Spot Day on the Texas Calendar". In Abernethy, Francis Edward; Govenar, Alan B.; Mullen, Patrick B. (eds.). Juneteenth Texas. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press. pp.237–254. ISBN1574410180.
↑ Galena, Devon (May 30, 2023). Juneteenth Fact Sheet (update 27) (Report) (27ed.). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
↑ Galena, Devon (June 13, 2024). Juneteenth Fact Sheet (update 28) (Report) (28ed.). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original on July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
Cromartie, J. Vern. "Freedom Came at Different Times: A Comparative Analysis of Emancipation Day and Juneteenth Celebrations." NAAAS Conference Proceedings. National Association of African American Studies, (2014) online.
Donovan, Anne, and Karen De Bres. "Foods of freedom: Juneteenth as a culinary tourist attraction." Tourism Review International 9.4 (2006): 379–389. link
Guzzio, Tracie Church (1999). "Juneteenth". In Samuels, Wilford D. (ed.). Encyclopedia of African-American Literature. Facts on File.[ISBNmissing]
Hume, Noah; Arceneaux, Janice (2008). "Public Memory, Cultural Legacy, and Press Coverage of the Juneteenth Revival". Journalism History. 34 (3): 155–162. doi:10.1080/00947679.2008.12062768. S2CID142605823.
Jaynes, Gerald David (2005). "Juneteenth". Encyclopedia of African American Society. Vol.1. Sage Publications. pp.481–482. ISBN9781452265414.
Knight, Gladys L. (2011). "Juneteenth". Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. Greenwood. pp.798–801. OCLC694734649.[ISBNmissing]
Mustakeem, Sowandé (2007). "Juneteenth". In Rodriguez, Junius (ed.). Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World. Routledge.[ISBNmissing]
Taylor, Charles A. (2002). Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom. Open Hand Pub Llc. ISBN978-0940880689.
Turner, E. H. "Juneteenth: The Evolution of an Emancipation Celebration." European Contributions to American Studies. 65 (2006): 69–81.
Wiggins Jr, William H. "They Closed the Town Up, Man! Reflections on the Civic and Political Dimensions of Juneteenth." in Celebration: Studies in Festivity and Ritual, ed. Victor Turner (1982): 284–295.
Wynn, Linda T. (2009). "Juneteenth". In Carney Smith, Jessica (ed.). Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience. Credo Reference.[ISBNmissing]
Further reading
Cotham, Edward T. Jr. (2021). Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration. State House Press. ISBN978-1649670007.
(federal) = federal holidays, (abbreviation) = state/territorial holidays, (religious) = religious holidays, (cultural) = holiday related to a specific racial/ethnic group or sexual minority, (week) = week-long holidays, (month) = month-long holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies
The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the effect of changing the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. As soon as slaves escaped the control of their enslavers, either by fleeing to Union lines or through the advance of federal troops, they were permanently free. In addition, the Proclamation allowed for former slaves to "be received into the armed service of the United States". The Emancipation Proclamation played a significant part in the end of slavery in the United States.
Federal holidays in the United States are 11 calendar dates designated by the U.S. federal government as holidays. On these days non-essential U.S. federal government offices are closed and federal employees are paid for the day off.
In the United States, public holidays are set by federal, state, and local governments and are often observed by closing government offices or giving government employees paid time off. The federal government does not require private businesses to close or offer paid time off, as is the case for most state and local governments, so employers determine which holidays to observe.
In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were prohibited. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states to be politically imperative that the number of free states not exceed the number of slave states, so new states were admitted in slave–free pairs. There were, nonetheless, some slaves in most free states up to the 1840 census, and the Fugitive Slave Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as implemented by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, provided that a slave did not become free by entering a free state and must be returned to their owner. Enforcement of these laws became one of the controversies which arose between slave and free states.
Emancipation Day is observed in many former European colonies in the Caribbean and areas of the United States on various dates to commemorate the emancipation of slaves of African descent.
The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is a museum and cultural center in east Austin, Texas, housed in the former George Washington Carver branch of the Austin Public Library. Named in honor of George Washington Carver, the facility has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2005.
The history of slavery in Texas began slowly at first during the first few phases in Texas' history. Texas was a colonial territory, then part of Mexico, later Republic in 1836, and U.S. state in 1845. The use of slavery expanded in the mid-nineteenth century as White American settlers, primarily from the Southeastern United States, crossed the Sabine River and brought enslaved people with them. Slavery was present in Spanish America and Mexico prior to the arrival of American settlers, but it was not highly developed, and the Spanish did not rely on it for labor during their years in Spanish Texas.
Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church located at 2013 Broadway in Galveston, Texas. The church's congregation was founded in 1848 by enslaved African Americans and, following emancipation in 1865, the church was organized as Texas's first A.M.E. congregation in 1866. Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church was one of locations of the public reading of General Order No. 3 by Union general Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865 which officially declared emancipation in Texas. The annual celebration of this declaration among African Americans continues today as the Juneteenth holiday.
Ashton Villa is a fully restored, historic home located on the corner of 24th and Broadway in Galveston, Texas, United States. Constructed in 1859, it was one of the first brick structures in Texas built by slaves.
An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia, 37th Cong., Sess. 2, ch. 54, 12 Stat. 376, known colloquially as the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act or simply Compensated Emancipation Act, was a law that ended slavery in the District of Columbia, while providing slave owners who remained loyal to the United States in the then-ongoing Civil War to petition for compensation. Although not written by him, the act was signed by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 16, 1862. April 16 is now celebrated in the city as Emancipation Day.
African American Texans or Black Texans are residents of the state of Texas who are of African ancestry and people that have origins as African-American slaves. African Americans formed a unique ethnic identity in Texas while facing the problems of societal and institutional discrimination as well as colorism for many years. The first person of African heritage to arrive in Texas was Estevanico, who came to Texas in 1528.
The African American population in San Antonio, Texas has been a significant part of the city's community since its founding. African Americans have been a part of the Greater San Antonio's history since the late 1800s. San Antonio ranks as the top Texas destination city for Black professionals.
General Order No. 3 was an American legal decree issued in 1865 enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation to the residents of the U.S. state of Texas and freeing all remaining slaves in the state. The general order was issued by Union General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, upon arriving at Galveston, Texas, at the end of the American Civil War and two and a half years after the original issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. The order, and Granger's enforcement of it, is the central event commemorated by the holiday of Juneteenth, which originally celebrated the end of slavery in Texas.
Juneteenth, a celebration of emancipation from slavery, was introduced to Oregon in 1945 by Kaiser Shipyard worker Clara Peoples, was recognized by the city of Portland in 1972, statewide in 2013, and federally in 2021.
The history of slavery in Colorado began centuries before Colorado achieved statehood when Spanish colonists of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (1598–1848) enslaved Native Americans, called Genízaros. Southern Colorado was part of the Spanish territory until 1848. Comanche and Utes raided villages of other indigenous people and enslaved them.
Opal Lee is an American retired teacher, counselor, and activist in the movement to make Juneteenth a federally-recognized holiday. She is often described as the "grandmother of Juneteenth".
The Juneteenth flag is a symbol for the Juneteenth holiday in the United States. The first version was created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith and that early version was displayed in 1997. The present version was first flown in 2000. The colors and symbols on the flag are representative of freedom and the end of slavery. The date on the flag represents that of General Order No. 3 issued in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. Beginning in 2020, many states began recognizing Juneteenth by flying the flag over their state capitol buildings, especially after Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday by President Joe Biden the following year.
From the late 18th to the mid-19th century, various states of the United States allowed the enslavement of human beings, most of whom had been transported from Africa during the Atlantic slave trade or were their descendants. The institution of chattel slavery was established in North America in the 16th century under Spanish colonization, British colonization, French colonization, and Dutch colonization.
Booker T. Washington Park is a Texas state park, located at Comanche Crossing, Limestone County, Texas, near Mexia.
The Fifth of July is a historic celebration of an Emancipation Day in New York, marking the culmination of the state's 1827 abolition of slavery after a gradual legislative process. State law passed under Governor Daniel D. Tompkins a decade earlier had designated Independence Day, the Fourth of July, as when abolition would take effect, but the danger of racist violence led African Americans to celebrate on the following day instead.
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