Celebrate Juneteenth - Nevada Today

An early celebration of Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) in 1900

Juneteenth (a portmanteau of June and nineteenth;[i] also known as Freedom Day,[ii] Jubilee Day,[iii] Liberation Day^[5], and Emancipation Day [iv]) is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. It commemorates Union army general Gordon Granger announcing federal orders in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming that all slaves in Texas were free. [v]

Slavery in the United states was still legal and practiced in two Union border states until December 6, 1865, when ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolished non-penal slavery nationwide.[vi],[vii],[viii]

Celebrations date to 1866, involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. It spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival.

During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, it was eclipsed by the struggle for postwar civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African American freedom and arts.[ix]

Governor Tom Wolf signing legislation to officially recognize Juneteenth in Pennsylvania in 2019

By the 21st century, Juneteenth was celebrated in most major cities across the United States. Activists are campaigning for the United States Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. Hawaii, North Dakota and South Dakota are the only states that do not recognize Juneteenth, according to the Congressional Research Service.[x] Of the 47 states that do acknowledge Juneteenth in one way or another, Texas, Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania are the only ones recognizing it as an official paid holiday for state employees.

Modern observance is primarily in local celebrations. Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, and reading of works by noted African American writers such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou. Celebrations include rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, and Miss Juneteenth contests.

The Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles, who escaped from U.S. slavery in 1852 and settled in Coahuila, Mexico, also celebrate Juneteenth.

Endnotes:

[i] Juneteenth Celebrated in Coachella”. Black Voice News. June 22, 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012.

[ii] Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day”. Smithsonian. Retrieved June 27, 2019.

[iii] Cel-Liberation Style! Fourth Annual Juneteenth Day Kicks off June 19″. Milwaukee Star. June 12, 1975. Retrieved May 7, 2020.

[iv] “It Happened: June 19”. Milwaukee Star, vol. 14, no. 42. June 27, 1974. Retrieved May 5, 2020.

[v] Gates Jr., Henry Louis (January 16, 2013). “What Is Juneteenth?”. PBS.org. Retrieved June 12, 2020.

[vi] Editors, History com. “13th Amendment”. HISTORY. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved June 19, 2020.

[vii][vii] “10 Facts: The Emancipation Proclamation”. American Battlefield Trust. American Battlefield Trust. August 9, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2020.

[viii] Taylor, Amy. “The Border States (U.S. National Park Service)”. National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved June 19, 2020.

[ix] Cruz, Gilbert (June 18, 2008). “A Brief History of Juneteenth”. Time. Retrieved May 30, 2013.

[x] Congressional Research Service (June 3, 2020). “Juneteenth: Fact Sheet”(PDF). Retrieved June 19, 2020.