Celebrating and Commemorating Juneteenth

In 1863, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than 3 million slaves living in the Confederate states to be free. Despite the proclamation, in Texas, slavery was largely unaffected. The confederates considered the state a safe space for slaveholders, as it remained generally unoccupied by Union Army soldiers during the war—mainly because it was one of the farthest away from the border between the Union and the Confederacy, a.k.a, the frontlines of the Civil War. According to PBS, many rebels from neighboring states would flee to Texas with their (illegal) enslaved people.

But on June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, and just two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered, with the Union Army winning the war, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take control. He issued General Order No. 3 to inform enslaved people that they were free and that the Civil War was officially over. This is why we celebrate Juneteenth, because it honors the day all people living in the United States, including the formerly enslaved, were officially granted freedom.

The following year, on June 19, the first official Juneteenth celebrations took place in Texas. The original observances included prayer meetings and the singing of spirituals, and celebrants wore new clothes as a way of representing their newfound freedom. Within a few years, African Americans in other states were celebrating the day as well, making it an annual tradition. Celebrations have continued across the United States into the 21st century and typically include prayer and religious services, speeches, educational events, family gatherings and picnics, and festivals with music, food, and dancing.

Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1979, and a number of other states subsequently followed suit. On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law making the day known as Juneteenth a national holiday.

A guide to celebrating Juneteenth

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