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Juneteenth is a hybrid of the words June and nineteenth. It was first recognized on June 19, 1865. In the weeks following General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, General Gordon Granger and a regiment of Union army soldiers sailed into Galveston, Texas, and issued a freedom proclamation for nearly two hundred thousand slaves. This was the catalyst for a number of celebrations in the state and throughout the southwestern United States. Currently a Texas state holiday, Juneteenth is commemorated all over the country with parades, concerts, and cultural festivities.
President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. It was a preliminary document, announcing that emancipation would become effective on January 1, 1863. Enforcement, however, was stalled until the end of the Civil War in April 1865 and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on December 18, 1865. Texans were not notified of these developments and did not learn of their freedom until June 19 of that year. It is generally accepted that plantation owners purposely delayed the news announcing the end of slavery in order to orchestrate one final harvest and planting of the cotton crops.
Integration, the Great Depression, and World War II contributed to the decline of Juneteenth's emancipation gatherings. In 1979 Houston Representative Al Edwards proposed legislation to make June 19 an official Texas state holiday. The bill became law on January 1, 1980. The renaissance of African American cultural pride and ethnic identification prevalent in the country over the last twenty-five years has helped to resurrect Juneteenth. It is now visible in a variety of places in the United States.
From CREDO: Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia
Juneteenth started in Galveston, Texas:
"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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer."
From --Major General Gordon Granger, Galveston, June 19th, 1865
The Zinn Education Project: June 19, 1865: “Juneteenth” Emancipation Day
From the Zinn Education Project, a history of Juneteenth includes teaching guides and resources.
Video: "The History of Juneteenth"
A 14-minute lecture, “The History of Juneteenth,” by the late Dr. Hari Jones, Civil War Historian and Curator at the African American Civil War Museum, Washington, D.C.
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In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln declared that as president he would "have no lawful right" to interfere with the institution of slavery. Yet less than two years later, he issued a proclamation intended to free all slaves throughout the Confederate states. When critics challenged the constitutional soundness of the act, Lincoln pointed to the international laws and usages of war as the legal basis for his Proclamation, asserting that the Constitution invested the president "with the law of war in time of war."
Juneteenth part of Encyclopedia of African-American Literature, 2013
Moves beyond broad generalizations concerning black life during Reconstruction in order to address the varied experiences of freed slaves across the South. This collection examines urban unrest in New Orleans and Wilmington, North Carolina, loyalty among former slave owners and slaves in Mississippi, armed insurrection along the Georgia coast, racial violence throughout the region, and much more in order to provide a well-rounded portrait of the era.
The Encyclopedia of African American Society is the first comprehensive and accessible reference set in this field to give voice to the turbulent trends, past and present, that are often ignored in favor of mere facts. Although numerous biographical, chronological, and bibliographical reference works exist, none seeks to capture, in a single set, the ways in which the tenets and foundations of African American culture have given rise to today′s society.
The very first cookbook to celebrate Juneteenth is from food writer and cookbook author Nicole A. Taylor--who draws on her decade of experience observing the holiday. On June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. A year later, in 1866, Black Texans congregated with music, dance, and BBQs--Juneteenth celebrations.
Boys strapped to carpet looms in India, women trafficked into sex slavery across Europe, children born into bondage in Mauritania, and migrants imprisoned at gunpoint in the United States are just a few of the many forms slavery takes in the twenty-first century. Told in the words of slaves themselves, the narratives movingly and eloquently chronicle the horrors of contemporary slavery, the process of becoming free, and the challenges faced by former slaves as they build a life in freedom.
[Podcast] The Amazing Story of Juneteenth: KERA
Harvard historian Annette Gordon-Reed grew up in Texas, and she joins host Krys Boyd to discuss the history of Texas exceptionalism, an economic model based on slavery and race, and the legacy that remains today.
Emancipation Proclamation (National Archives & Records Administration)
View parts of the original Emancipation Proclamation from the National Archives.
A publication of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.
National Juneteenth Observance Foundation
The Juneteenth Foundation is a 501(C)3 organized by a group of professionals championing the celebration of Juneteenth. In 2021, Juneteenth was nationally recognized and celebrated for the first time ever as a federal holiday in the United States and around the world.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This research guide compiles digital materials at the Library of Congress, links to related external websites, and a print bibliography.
What is Juneteenth? by Henry Louis Gates Jr (The Root)
A well-written and informative article about Juneteenth and its positive, ongoing effects in America.
Wondering how to get your community involved in celebrating Juneteenth? Check out this page from Juneteenth.com for suggestions. Juneteenth.com also provides the historical background for this important marker in history.
[Podcast] The Truth About Juneteenth NPR
June 19th is traditionally embraced as the day in 1863 when slaves in Texas learned they'd been freed. But historian Hari Jones, Assistant Director of the African-American Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C., says many are misinformed about the true significance of the holiday.
The Tarrant County College District Libraries are pleased to provide a wide assortment of digital displays and online exhibits designed to educate, inform, entertain, and engage our entire community, and to help support the learning experience outside of the traditional classroom environment. To view more of these web-based displays, visit our Digital Display Archive page.
