06/10/2026
Happy first month of that legendary season many Seattleites endure overcast skies all year waiting for: Seattle summer! Seattle seems to spring to life in June; it is a season of neighborhood block parties, pride celebrations, and jumping into the still a bit chilly lakes.
Though next month marks the much anticipated 250th anniversary of the nation, another crucial historical holiday—itself considered a sort of independence day—falls on June 19th. In the midst of the Civil War, president Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863—however, word of the Proclamation didn’t reach many enslaved people until much later. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, two months after the Civil War ended, that slaves in Texas learned that they were free. In Texas, former slaves and their descendants continued to celebrate the anniversary of their freedom every year on
June 19th, earning the holiday the name “Juneteenth.”
Though the holiday began in Texas, African Americans migrating to other parts of the country took the holiday with them, with the first documented Juneteenth celebration in Seattle taking place in 1890. In our Food Stories cookbook, Dora Abeny shared her relationship to Juneteenth since moving to Seattle in the early 1960s, recounting “In 2000 we had a Juneteenth celebration at Twinks [Early Childhood Education Center and Preschool in Columbia City], where we blocked off the street, we sold barbecue, and the kids played, and it was exciting. I says ‘Juneteenth,’ and then to me, everybody blossomed. And all of a sudden everybody did know about it.” To celebrate Juneteenth, Abney shared with us her recipe for red velvet cake, noting that red foods were a Juneteenth tradition because “red represented the blood that was shed during slavery.” This Juneteenth, use the federal holiday to engage in both celebration and intentional self-education, and perhaps even spend an hour or two making Abney’s delicious red velvet cake.
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