It commemorates the day when slaves in the last geographic area in America where slavery existed learned of their freedom. This took place on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, when Union General Gordon Granger read General Order #3, announcing that "all slaves are free" by Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on Septembe
r 22, 1862, and issued on January 1, 1863. It took over two and a half years for the news to travel to southwest Texas. As Texans of African American descent have migrated across the United States and settled elsewhere, they have taken the observance of Juneteenth with them. More and more descendents of slaves in other states are joining in the celebration and seeking in some instances to make the holiday a legal one in their respective states. Juneteenth has become a state holiday in Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, Oklahoma, Delaware, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, California, Wyoming, Illinois, Missouri, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Arkansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Virginia, Washington State, Tennessee and the District of Columbia. Join us as we celebrate and recognize those African-Americans who survived the inhumane and cruel institution of slavery. It is also on this day we pay homage to the ancestors who kept safe our language, songs and customs! By connecting the present to the past, Juneteenth is a “homecoming” for all African Americans, helping to define their place within the African Diaspora.
