Many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free, in Galveston, Texas.
It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed 鈥 after the Civil War's end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
The resulting Juneteenth holiday 鈥 its name combining "June" and "nineteenth" 鈥 has only grown in one-and-a-half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a federal holiday 鈥 expanding its recognition beyond Black America.
This year will be the first Juneteenth under President Donald Trump's second administration, which has banned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government. This has included removing Black American history content from federal websites. Trump officials have also discouraged some federal agencies from recognizing other racial heritage celebrations.
A view of a section of the 1865 Juneteenth General Order No. 3 that is displayed by the Dallas Historical Society at the Fair Park Hall of State in Dallas, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
LM Otero
Still, many people anticipate getting Juneteenth off work. There are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events planned throughout the week leading into the holiday. But with the current political climate, some may wonder if their company will honor it.
"I don't think anyone should be intimidated or obligated into not celebrating the day," said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. "I've not heard of anyone being denied. I think it would be absolutely reprehensible."
People who never gave the occasion more than a passing thought may be asking themselves, is there a "right" way to celebrate Juneteenth?
For beginners and those brushing up on history, here are some answers:
Is Juneteenth more of a solemn day of remembrance or a party?
It depends on what you want. Juneteenth festivities are rooted in cookouts and picnics. Originally celebrated as Black Americans' true Independence Day, outdoor events allowed for large, raucous reunions among formerly enslaved family, many of whom had been separated. The gatherings were especially revolutionary because they were free of restrictive measures, known as "Black Codes," enforced in Confederate states. Codes controlled whether liberated slaves could vote, buy property, gather for worship and other aspects of daily life.
Last year, the White House kicked things off early with a concert on the South Lawn for Juneteenth and Black Music Month. The atmosphere was primarily festive with Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black vice president, dancing on stage with gospel singer Kirk Franklin.
Plans for a Juneteenth event or proclamation this year have not been decided, according to the White House press office.
Others may choose to treat Juneteenth as a day of rest and remembrance. That can mean doing community service, attending an education panel or taking time off.
"The most important thing everyone should do is be able to quickly answer the question 'What is Juneteenth?'" Morial said.
Dr. David Anderson, a Black pastor and CEO of Gracism Global, a consulting firm helping leaders navigate conversations bridging divides across race and culture, never did anything on Juneteenth in his youth. He didn't learn about it until his 30s.
"I think many folks haven't known about it 鈥 who are even my color as an African American male. Even if you heard about it and knew about it, you didn't celebrate it," Anderson said. "It was like just a part of history. It wasn't a celebration of history."
For many African Americans, the farther away from Texas that they grew up increased the likelihood they didn't have big Juneteenth celebrations regularly. In the South, the day can vary based on when word of Emancipation reached each state.
What kind of public Juneteenth events are taking place?
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Search online and you will find gatherings nationwide varying in scope and tone. Some are more carnivalesque festivals with food trucks, arts and crafts and parades. Within those festivals, you'll likely find information on health care, finance and community resources. There also are concerts and fashion shows to highlight Black creativity. There will also be panels to educate about Juneteenth's history.
The National Park Service is again making entry into all sites free on the holiday, according to its website.
Julien James carries his son, Maison, 4, holding a Pan-African flag to celebrate during a Juneteenth commemoration at Leimert Park in Los Angeles Saturday, June 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Damian Dovarganes
Are there special Juneteenth decorations or foods?
The red, black and green African Liberation Flag, also known as the Pan-African flag, has historically been displayed at both Black History Month and Juneteenth celebrations. Red represents bloodshed and sacrifice of enslaved ancestors. Black symbolizes Black people. Green represents richness of the land in Africa.
More people, however, have leaned into the Juneteenth flag created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith, who founded the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. Like the American flag, it is red, white and blue to indicate those freed are also Americans. The five-point white star in the middle is a tribute to Juneteenth's birthplace of Texas. It is encircled by another white starry line that represents the spreading of freedom.
Aside from barbecue, the color red has been a through line for Juneteenth food for generations. Red symbolizes the bloodshed and sacrifice of enslaved ancestors. A Juneteenth menu might incorporate items like barbecued ribs or other red meat, watermelon and red velvet cake. Drinks like fruit punch and red Kool-Aid may make an appearance at the table.
In recent years, Juneteenth has become more commercialized with national chains selling Juneteenth party supplies, T-shirts and other merchandise. However, this year, Juneteenth items appear to be fewer or only online. Morial says he would be disappointed if companies decided selling Juneteenth items out in the open was too risky because of politics. At the same time, it might be a good opportunity for consumers.
"I would also encourage people to go online and look for an African American vendor," Morial said. "If you got to participate in that (commercialism), that's what I would do."
Does how you celebrate Juneteenth matter if you aren't Black?
Dr. Karida Brown, a sociology professor at Emory University whose research focuses on race, said there's no reason to feel awkward about wanting to recognize Juneteenth just because you have no personal ties or you're not Black. In fact, embrace it.
"I would reframe that and challenge my non-Black folks who want to lean into Juneteenth and celebrate," Brown said. "It absolutely is your history. It absolutely is a part of your experience. ... Isn't this all of our history? The good, the bad, the ugly, the story of emancipation and freedom for your Black brothers and sisters under the Constitution of the law."
Stevens Institute of Technology
What are other names used to refer to Juneteenth?
Over the decades, Juneteenth has also been called Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Black Fourth of July and second Independence Day among others.
"Because 1776, Fourth of July, where we're celebrating freedom and liberty and all of that, that did not include my descendants," Brown said. "Black people in America were still enslaved. So that that holiday always comes with a bittersweet tinge to it."
Is there a proper Juneteenth greeting?
It's typical to wish people a "Happy Juneteenth" or "Happy Teenth," according to Alan Freeman, a comedian who has organized a June 19 comedy show at Club 68, which local media has described as the last Black bar and club on Galveston Island. The day after he will host a stand-up comedy and jazz show at his Houston restaurant and lounge, the Frisky Whisky.
"You know how at Christmas people will say 'Merry Christmas' to each other and not even know each other?" Freeman said. "You can get a 'Merry Christmas' from everybody. This is the same way."
Juneteenth鈥攁lso known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, or the country鈥檚 second Independence Day鈥攕tands as an enduring symbol of Black American freedom.
When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and fellow federal soldiers arrived in Galveston, a coastal town on Texas鈥 Galveston Island, on June 19, 1865, it was to issue orders for the emancipation of enslaved people throughout the state.
Although telegraph messages had shared news of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and while the war had been settled in the Union鈥檚 favor since April of 1865, Granger鈥檚 message was a promise of accountability. There was now a large enough coalition to enforce the end of slavery and overwhelm the Texas Conferedate constitution, which forbade individuals鈥 release from bondage.
In that way, Texas became the last Confederate state to end slavery in the U.S.
Though celebrated for hundreds of years in parts of the U.S., Juneteenth鈥檚 history and significance only recently scaled for a massive national audience and inflection point. The historic date was not recognized as a federal holiday until 2021鈥攎ore than a century and a half after it took place.
explored the history and significance of Juneteenth by examining historical documentation including texts for General Order #3 and the Emancipation Proclamation. Stacker also researched the lasting significance of this historic day while clearing up some of the most egregious misinformation about it.
You may also like:
Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG via Getty Images
Maj. Gen. Granger was given command of the District of Texas following the Civil War鈥檚 conclusion, making him an obvious choice for delivering General Order #3.
In its simplest terms, declared that all enslaved people in Texas were free; but the order maintained racist undertones and encouraged enslaved people to stay where they were being held to continue work鈥攖his time for wages as free men and women.
The order鈥檚 , preserved at the National Archives Building in Washington D.C., reads:
鈥淭he people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.鈥
The Emancipation Proclamation, signed into law by President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, called for an end to legal slavery in secessionist Confederate states only, impacting about 3.5 million of the 4 million enslaved people in the country at that time. As the war drew to a close and Union soldiers retook territory, enslaved people living in those areas were liberated.
Lincoln鈥檚 decision to free only those enslaved individuals in bondage in Confederate states was a strategic, militaristic method, as he notably did not free those enslaved in Union states. Further, the proclamation was unenforceable. Still, Union troops fighting in the war brought news of emancipation along with the military might to enforce it. Many enslaved people were motivated enough by the news to risk fleeing and seek safety in Union states or by joining the U.S. Army and Navy to help fight.
Following the Emancipation Proclamation, any enslaved person who escaped over Union lines or to oncoming federal troops during the war was free in perpetuity.
Maj. Gen. Granger鈥檚 orders on June 19, 1865, released enslaved people in Texas from bondage. But it was another six months before the last two states鈥斺攆reed enslaved people, and only then when the 13th Amendment was ratified on Dec. 18, 1865.
The 13th Amendment officially ended slavery and involuntary servitude at the federal level, except as a punishment for a crime. That loophole has been capitalized upon since the amendment passed. Kentucky officially听听in 1976.
Many newly freed people remained on former enslavers鈥 properties to work for pay, while others immediately fled north or into nearby states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma to reunite with family. As people fanned out around the country, they took Juneteenth celebrations along with them. Formerly enslaved people and their descendants also made yearly pilgrimages back to Galveston to memorialize the date鈥檚 significance.
Juneteenth became an official Texas holiday in 1980.
While Juneteenth is among the oldest celebrations of emancipation, it is not the听oldest. That distinction goes to Gallipolis, Ohio, which has celebrated the end of slavery there since Sept. 22, 1863.
Frank Leslie鈥檚 Illustrated Newspaper // Library of Congress
Formerly enslaved African American ministers and businessmen got together in 1872 to raise the $1,000 necessary to buy 10 acres of land in Houston鈥檚 Third and Fourth wards. They called the lot .
The park was donated to the city of Houston in 1916. In the late 1930s, the Public Works Administration, which was established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt鈥檚 New Deal, constructed a recreation center and public pool on the park site. The Houston City Council declared the park a protected historic landmark on Nov. 7, 2007.
Houston Public Library Digital Archives // Wikimedia Commons
Mexico was a longtime sanctuary for those who escaped chattel slavery, with a 听that helped as many as 10,000 people flee bondage. Descendants of enslaved people who also emigrated over the southern border from the U.S. brought with them a tapestry of histories and traditions, including the Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth has been celebrated in听a small Mexican village called Nacimiento since 1870.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and had members who enslaved Black women, children, and men. Following the Civil War鈥檚 conclusion, the Choctaws did not grant those who were enslaved their freedom.
The called for the Choctaws to free the enslaved Africans in exchange for $300,000 paid by the U.S. government to the Choctaws and Choctaw Nation. Many of those liberated chose to stay and live as free people among the tribal communities. More than 100 years later, in 1983, Choctaw voters adopted a that declared all members 鈥渟hall consist of all Choctaw Indians by blood whose names appear on the original rolls of the Choctaw Nation 鈥 and their lineal descendants,鈥 all but expelling Freedmen citizens from citizenship within the tribal community.
Early Juneteenth celebrations were spent in prayer and with family but eventually expanded to include everything from rodeos and baseball to certain foods like strawberry soda pop and barbecues. Food has long been central to Juneteenth, as participants often all arrive with their own dishes.
Attention for Juneteenth waned in the early 20th century as classroom instruction veered away from the history of enslavement in the U.S. and instead taught that slavery ended in one fell swoop with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Texas was the last Confederate state to free enslaved people from bondage, but it was also the first to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.
The late Texas Rep. Al Edwards put forth a bill in 1979 called that was entered into state law later that year and went into effect on Jan. 1, 1980. It was before another state鈥擣lorida鈥攑assed a similar law of recognition.
Juneteenth achieved increasing recognition in recent decades, but the full embrace of the celebration as a national holiday 听following the murder听of George Floyd on May 20, 2020.听The听resultant Black Lives Matter protests that erupted worldwide in a stance against acts of racial injustice and police brutality spurred corporations nationwide to support Juneteenth as an act of allyship鈥攁nd things snowballed from there.
The following year, President Joe Biden signed a bill in June 2021 officially declaring Juneteenth a national holiday.听Juneteenth was the first new federal holiday since 1983 (MLK Jr. Day) after.
Juneteenth鈥攁lso known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, or the country's second Independence Day鈥攕tands as an enduring symbol of Black American freedom. When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and fellow federal soldiers arrived in Galveston, a coastal town on Texas' Galveston Island, on June 19, 1865, it was to issue orders for the emancipation of enslaved people throughout the state.
Although telegraph messages had spread news of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and while the war had been resolved in the Union's favor since April of 1865, Granger's message represented a promise of accountability. There was now a large enough coalition to enforce the end of slavery and to overturn the Texas Confederate constitution, which forbade individuals' release from bondage.
In this way, Texas became the last Confederate state to end slavery in the United States.
Though celebrated for hundreds of years in parts of the U.S., Juneteenth's history and significance have only recently gained massive national attention. The historic date was not recognized as a federal holiday until 2021, more than a century and a half after it took place.
Today, Juneteenth is commonly commemorated with public art, festivals, and civic engagement across the country. In 2025, the long-awaited National Juneteenth Museum , guided by the staunch efforts of activist , who is widely regarded as the "Grandmother of Juneteenth." Meanwhile, cities like Atlanta, Detroit, and Philadelphia have expanded their Juneteenth programming, incorporating everything from economic justice panels to .
The holiday has also sparked renewed debates over how schools teach slavery and Reconstruction, particularly in light of state-level restrictions on curricula addressing racism and Black history. In this moment, Juneteenth has become not just a day of remembrance; it's a reflection of ongoing struggles for equity and historical truth.
explored the history and significance of Juneteenth by examining historical documentation, including texts for General Order #3 and the Emancipation Proclamation. Stacker also researched the lasting significance of this historic day while clarifying some of the most egregious misinformation about it.
National Archives // Getty Images
Juneteenth commemorates the 1865 delivery of General Order #3
Maj. Gen. Granger was given command of the District of Texas following the Civil War's conclusion, making him an obvious choice for delivering General Order #3.
In its simplest terms, declared that all enslaved people in Texas were free; but the order maintained racist undertones and encouraged enslaved people to stay where they were being held to continue work鈥攖his time for wages as free men and women.
The order's , preserved at the National Archives Building in Washington D.C., reads:
"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere."
Interim Archives // Getty Images
Chattel slavery in all states wasn't abolished until the end of 1865
The Emancipation Proclamation, signed into law by President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, called for an end to legal slavery in secessionist Confederate states only, impacting about 3.5 million of the 4 million enslaved people in the country at that time. As the war drew to a close and Union soldiers retook territory, enslaved people living in those areas were liberated.
Lincoln's decision to free only those enslaved individuals in bondage in Confederate states was a strategic, militaristic method, as he notably did not free those enslaved in Union states. Further, the proclamation was unenforceable. Still, Union troops fighting in the war brought news of emancipation along with the military might to enforce it. Many enslaved people were motivated enough by the news to risk fleeing and seek safety in Union states or by joining the U.S. Army and Navy to help fight.
Following the Emancipation Proclamation, any enslaved person who escaped over Union lines or to oncoming federal troops during the war was free in perpetuity.
Maj. Gen. Granger's orders on June 19, 1865, released enslaved people in Texas from bondage. But it was another six months before the last two states鈥斺攆reed enslaved people, and only when the 13th Amendment was ratified on Dec. 18, 1865.
The 13th Amendment officially ended slavery and involuntary servitude at the federal level, except as a punishment for a crime. That loophole has been capitalized upon since the amendment passed. Kentucky officially in 1976.
Three Lions/Hulton Archive // Getty Images
Juneteenth celebrations originated in Galveston, Texas, starting in 1866
Mixed reactions followed .
Many newly freed people remained on former enslavers' properties to work for pay, while others immediately fled north or into nearby states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma to reunite with family. As people fanned out around the country, they took Juneteenth celebrations along with them. Formerly enslaved people and their descendants also made yearly pilgrimages back to Galveston to memorialize the date's significance.
Juneteenth became an official Texas holiday in 1980.
While Juneteenth is among the oldest celebrations of emancipation, it is not the oldest. That distinction goes to Gallipolis, Ohio, which has celebrated the end of slavery there since Sept. 22, 1863.
Everett Collection // Shutterstock
The first land to commemorate and celebrate the event was purchased in 1872 and is now a public park
Formerly enslaved African American ministers and businessmen got together in 1872 to raise the $1,000 necessary to buy 10 acres of land in Houston's Third and Fourth wards. They called the lot .
The park was donated to the city of Houston in 1916. In the late 1930s, the Public Works Administration, which was established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, constructed a recreation center and public pool on the park site. The Houston City Council declared the park a protected historic landmark on Nov. 7, 2007.
Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Juneteenth has been celebrated in Mexico for more than 150 years
Mexico was a longtime sanctuary for those who escaped chattel slavery, with a that helped as many as 10,000 people flee bondage. Descendants of enslaved people who also emigrated over the southern border from the U.S. brought with them a tapestry of histories and traditions, including the Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth has been celebrated in a small Mexican village called Nacimiento since 1870.
Bettmann // Getty Images
The last enslaved people in the US weren't adopted as citizens until 1885
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and had members who enslaved Black women, children, and men. Following the Civil War's conclusion, the Choctaws did not grant those who were enslaved their freedom.
The called for the Choctaws to free the enslaved Africans in exchange for $300,000 paid by the U.S. government to the Choctaws and the Choctaw Nation. Many of those liberated chose to stay and live as free people among the tribal communities. More than 100 years later, in 1983, Choctaw voters adopted a that declared all members "shall consist of all Choctaw Indians by blood whose names appear on the original rolls of the Choctaw Nation 鈥 and their lineal descendants," all but expelling Freedmen citizens from citizenship within tribal communities.
Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images
Festivities became more commercialized in the 1920s during the Great Migration
Early Juneteenth celebrations were spent in prayer and with family but eventually expanded to include everything from rodeos and baseball to certain foods like strawberry soda pop and barbecues. Food has long been central to Juneteenth, as participants often arrive with their own dishes.
Attention for Juneteenth waned in the early 20th century as classroom instruction veered away from the history of enslavement in the U.S. and instead taught that slavery ended in one fell swoop with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Moab Republic // Shutterstock
Juneteenth officially became a Texas state holiday in 1980
Texas was the last Confederate state to free enslaved people from bondage, but it was also the first to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.
The late Texas Rep. Al Edwards put forth a bill in 1979 called that was entered into state law later that year and went into effect on Jan. 1, 1980. It was before another state鈥擣lorida鈥攑assed a similar law of recognition.
oleprophoto // Shutterstock
South Dakota was the last state to make Juneteenth a legal holiday
In February 2022, Gov. Kristi Noem signed HB 1025 to recognize Juneteenth as a legal holiday.
preceded South Dakota by about eight and 10 months, respectively.
Drew Angerer // Getty Images
Juneteenth wasn't recognized as a federal holiday until 2021
Juneteenth achieved increasing recognition in recent decades, but the full embrace of the celebration as a national holiday following the murder of George Floyd on May 20, 2020. The resultant Black Lives Matter protests that erupted worldwide in a stance against acts of racial injustice and police brutality spurred corporations nationwide to support Juneteenth as an act of allyship, and things snowballed from there.
The following year, President Joe Biden signed a bill in June 2021 officially declaring Juneteenth a national holiday. Juneteenth was the first new federal holiday since 1983 (MLK Jr. Day) after .
Additional writing and copy editing by Paris Close.
Juneteenth鈥攁lso known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, or the country鈥檚 second Independence Day鈥攕tands as an enduring symbol of Black American freedom.
When Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and fellow federal soldiers arrived in Galveston, a coastal town on Texas鈥 Galveston Island, on June 19, 1865, it was to issue orders for the emancipation of enslaved people throughout the state.
Although telegraph messages had shared news of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and while the war had been settled in the Union鈥檚 favor since April of 1865, Granger鈥檚 message was a promise of accountability. There was now a large enough coalition to enforce the end of slavery and overwhelm the Texas Conferedate constitution, which forbade individuals鈥 release from bondage.
In that way, Texas became the last Confederate state to end slavery in the U.S.
Though celebrated for hundreds of years in parts of the U.S., Juneteenth鈥檚 history and significance only recently scaled for a massive national audience and inflection point. The historic date was not recognized as a federal holiday until 2021鈥攎ore than a century and a half after it took place.
explored the history and significance of Juneteenth by examining historical documentation including texts for General Order #3 and the Emancipation Proclamation. Stacker also researched the lasting significance of this historic day while clearing up some of the most egregious misinformation about it.
You may also like:
Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG via Getty Images
Maj. Gen. Granger was given command of the District of Texas following the Civil War鈥檚 conclusion, making him an obvious choice for delivering General Order #3.
In its simplest terms, declared that all enslaved people in Texas were free; but the order maintained racist undertones and encouraged enslaved people to stay where they were being held to continue work鈥攖his time for wages as free men and women.
The order鈥檚 , preserved at the National Archives Building in Washington D.C., reads:
鈥淭he people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.鈥
The Galveston Daily News // Wikimeda Commons
The Emancipation Proclamation, signed into law by President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, called for an end to legal slavery in secessionist Confederate states only, impacting about 3.5 million of the 4 million enslaved people in the country at that time. As the war drew to a close and Union soldiers retook territory, enslaved people living in those areas were liberated.
Lincoln鈥檚 decision to free only those enslaved individuals in bondage in Confederate states was a strategic, militaristic method, as he notably did not free those enslaved in Union states. Further, the proclamation was unenforceable. Still, Union troops fighting in the war brought news of emancipation along with the military might to enforce it. Many enslaved people were motivated enough by the news to risk fleeing and seek safety in Union states or by joining the U.S. Army and Navy to help fight.
Following the Emancipation Proclamation, any enslaved person who escaped over Union lines or to oncoming federal troops during the war was free in perpetuity.
Maj. Gen. Granger鈥檚 orders on June 19, 1865, released enslaved people in Texas from bondage. But it was another six months before the last two states鈥斺攆reed enslaved people, and only then when the 13th Amendment was ratified on Dec. 18, 1865.
The 13th Amendment officially ended slavery and involuntary servitude at the federal level, except as a punishment for a crime. That loophole has been capitalized upon since the amendment passed. Kentucky officially听听in 1976.
Theodore Kaufmann // Wikimedia Commons
Mixed reactions followed .
Many newly freed people remained on former enslavers鈥 properties to work for pay, while others immediately fled north or into nearby states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma to reunite with family. As people fanned out around the country, they took Juneteenth celebrations along with them. Formerly enslaved people and their descendants also made yearly pilgrimages back to Galveston to memorialize the date鈥檚 significance.
Juneteenth became an official Texas holiday in 1980.
While Juneteenth is among the oldest celebrations of emancipation, it is not the听oldest. That distinction goes to Gallipolis, Ohio, which has celebrated the end of slavery there since Sept. 22, 1863.
Frank Leslie鈥檚 Illustrated Newspaper // Library of Congress
Formerly enslaved African American ministers and businessmen got together in 1872 to raise the $1,000 necessary to buy 10 acres of land in Houston鈥檚 Third and Fourth wards. They called the lot .
The park was donated to the city of Houston in 1916. In the late 1930s, the Public Works Administration, which was established as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt鈥檚 New Deal, constructed a recreation center and public pool on the park site. The Houston City Council declared the park a protected historic landmark on Nov. 7, 2007.
Houston Public Library Digital Archives // Wikimedia Commons
In February 2022, Gov. Kristi Noem signed HB 1025 to recognize Juneteenth as a legal holiday.
preceded South Dakota by about eight and 10 months, respectively.
You may also like:
University of North Texas Libraries // Wikimedia Commons
Mexico was a longtime sanctuary for those who escaped chattel slavery, with a 听that helped as many as 10,000 people flee bondage. Descendants of enslaved people who also emigrated over the southern border from the U.S. brought with them a tapestry of histories and traditions, including the Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth has been celebrated in听a small Mexican village called Nacimiento since 1870.
Interim Archives // Getty Images
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and had members who enslaved Black women, children, and men. Following the Civil War鈥檚 conclusion, the Choctaws did not grant those who were enslaved their freedom.
The called for the Choctaws to free the enslaved Africans in exchange for $300,000 paid by the U.S. government to the Choctaws and Choctaw Nation. Many of those liberated chose to stay and live as free people among the tribal communities. More than 100 years later, in 1983, Choctaw voters adopted a that declared all members 鈥渟hall consist of all Choctaw Indians by blood whose names appear on the original rolls of the Choctaw Nation 鈥 and their lineal descendants,鈥 all but expelling Freedmen citizens from citizenship within the tribal community.
Detroit Publishing Company // Library of Congress
Early Juneteenth celebrations were spent in prayer and with family but eventually expanded to include everything from rodeos and baseball to certain foods like strawberry soda pop and barbecues. Food has long been central to Juneteenth, as participants often all arrive with their own dishes.
Attention for Juneteenth waned in the early 20th century as classroom instruction veered away from the history of enslavement in the U.S. and instead taught that slavery ended in one fell swoop with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Moab Republic // Shutterstock
Texas was the last Confederate state to free enslaved people from bondage, but it was also the first to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.
The late Texas Rep. Al Edwards put forth a bill in 1979 called that was entered into state law later that year and went into effect on Jan. 1, 1980. It was before another state鈥擣lorida鈥攑assed a similar law of recognition.
Tamir Kalifa // Getty Images
Juneteenth achieved increasing recognition in recent decades, but the full embrace of the celebration as a national holiday 听following the murder听of George Floyd on May 20, 2020.听The听resultant Black Lives Matter protests that erupted worldwide in a stance against acts of racial injustice and police brutality spurred corporations nationwide to support Juneteenth as an act of allyship鈥攁nd things snowballed from there.
The following year, President Joe Biden signed a bill in June 2021 officially declaring Juneteenth a national holiday.听Juneteenth was the first new federal holiday since 1983 (MLK Jr. Day) after.
You may also like:
Drew Angerer // Getty Images
People participate in a Juneteenth celebration in Fort Greene park.
Many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free, …
Julien James carries his son, Maison, 4, holding a Pan-African flag to celebrate during a Juneteenth commemoration at Leimert Park in Los Angeles Saturday, June 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A view of a section of the 1865 Juneteenth General Order No. 3 that is displayed by the Dallas Historical Society at the Fair Park Hall of State in Dallas, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
