Juneteenth: Guide

While the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Jan. 1, 1863, many enslavers continued to hold people in bondage in the South for free labor.

On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of slavery and the Civil War. 

Juneteenth commemorates this event and is a symbolic celebration of freedom for all African Americans.

On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Congress approved a bill making Juneteenth the eleventh federal holiday. President Joe Biden signed the legislation the same day. 

So why did it take more than two years for freedom to reach enslaved people in Texas?

Explore the resources in our guide to learn more about the history of Juneteenth.

Related Guides:

• Black History 
• Georgia's Gullah Geechee Heritage 
• The Legacy of Butler Island
• Tunis Campbell
• The Wanderer

The Washington Post (2019) on YouTube

Dr. Shennette Garrett-Scott at Allen Public Library, Allen, Texas (2013) on YouTube

Axelrod, J. (2018). Cities celebrate Juneteenth to commemorate abolishment of slavery. American City & County Exclusive Insight, N.PAG. 

Blanck, E. (2019). Galveston on San Francisco Bay: Juneteenth in the Fillmore District, 1945-2016. Western Historical Quarterly, 50(2), 85-112.

Chase, H. (1997). Juneteenth in Texas. American Visions, 12(3), 44. 

Cochran, R. (1999). Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore. African American Review, 33(4), 694.

Hume, J., and Arceneaux, N. (2008). Public Memory, Cultural Legacy, and Press Coverage of the Juneteenth Revival. Journalism History, 34(3), 155-162.

Jeffries, J. L. (2004). Juneteenth, Black Texans and the Case for Reparations. Negro Educational Review, 55(2–3), 107–115.