Juneteenth

Juneteenth or Emancipation Day, June 19th, holiday celebrating of the end of slavery in the United States. It began in Texas when news of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (effective Jan. 1, 1863) finally reached Galveston on June 19, 1865. Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger read a general order to the assembled people stating that "all slaves are free," and Texas thus became the last state to learn of the Confederate surrender and the freeing of the slaves. The announcement sparked immediate celebration in the local black community, and the following year the date was again commemorated.

From then on June 19th, which dubbed Juneteenth, was treated much like an African-American Fourth of July, and the holiday spread throughout Texas and into nearby states. Typical 19th-century Juneteenth activities included prayer, speeches, the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, recitation of slave stories, rodeos, dances, games, and plenty of food. The holiday spread when African-Americans from the South migrated to urban areas outside the region. Modern observances tend to emphasize food, drink, and recreation. A movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday has the official support of about half the states; it is a state holiday in 14 states.

Juneteenth a festival that commemorates June 19, 1865, when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned of the Emancipation Proclamation. The announcement that the war had ended and that the slaves were free was made by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, who had landed at Galveston with his regiment of Union soldiers. President Abraham Lincoln's proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, but millions of slaves became aware of it only gradually, as Union forces moved through the South. The announcement in Galveston is considered the final execution of the proclamation. The word 'Juneteenth' is a blend of 'June' and 'nineteenth.' For decades Juneteenth existed predominantly as a local festival, but recently it has spread throughout the country as an expression of African-American culture. The day is associated traditionally with barbecuing and with themes of education and self-improvement.

Juneteenth Day in the US, 19 June, originally a holiday in Texas marking the day on which slaves there were emancipated.