Juneteenth is an African-American celebration on June 19, the day in 1865 that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in Galveston, Texas—two years after it was issued. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. The proclamation was read on the docks of Galveston by Union general Gordon Granger and news quickly spread throughout the state, sparking impromptu celebrations which were continued on the June 19th anniversary. These gatherings evolved into political rallies and later into formal celebrations planned far in advance by Juneteenth committees. June 19, 1865 was a Monday but now Juneteenth is celebrated on the third Saturday of June.
In early years these celebrations were commonly relegated by law to the outskirts of towns. However eventually many organizational committees purchased land inside towns for the express purpose of holding the celebration; one example was Emancipation Park in Austin.
Beginning in the 1960s celebrations of Juneteenth became less popular due to the desire for integration embodied by the civil rights movement. Interest returned in the following decades however, and in 1979 Juneteenth was made a Texas state holiday.
By the end of the twentieth century, Juneteenth celebrations had become popular outside of Texas, and are now held annually in many different locations across the United States and throughout the world.
Up until integration, Juneteenth was the one day a year in Texas when Blacks could go to restaurants, sit downstairs in movie theaters, go to parks, the zoo, etc. Whites as a whole, did not frequent such places on Juneteenth, so it was not exactly integration.
Ralph Ellison's last, partially complete novel was titled Juneteenth.
It should be noted that, because the Emancipation Proclamation applied only to the states that had seceded from the Union, the final surrender of the Confederacy did not end slavery altogether throughout the United States, as four slaveholding states—Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri—never left the Union, and slavery was also technically legal (though not widespread) in territories that make up the present states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Slaves in these states and territories did not receive their freedom until the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on December 6, 1865. Even so, December 6 is not known to be observed anywhere as marking the end of slavery.
External links
Last updated: 05-20-2005 09:37:38
