06/19/2026
On June 19, 1865, in Galveston Texas, US Major General Gordon Granger issued a General Order to decree that all enslaved people in Texas (which was the westernmost Confederate state) were free. This was an important milestone on the road to freedom for enslaved people, and it happened YEARS after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, months after the end of the Civil War, and months before ratification of the 13th Amendment which formally abolished slavery in the US.
One year later, the first Juneteenth Celebration took place. Commemorations of the day began to spread in the 20th century, as African Americans left the South. Finally, in 2021, Juneteenth—a day that gives the nation a chance to reflect on slavery, emancipation, and freedom—became an official federal holiday.