Juneteenth, also known as the second Independence Day or Emancipation Day, is our eleventh and newest federal holiday. President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021, officially establishing June 19 as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Why June 19th? Because on that day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops marched into Texas and announced that by executive decree more than 250,000 enslaved people were free. General Order No. 3, which Major General Granger read to the gathered populace of Galveston, said in part: “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.” Granger’s proclamation in Galveston came two and a half years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and two months after General Lee’s surrender at the Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. Today, Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, hope and commitment to equality. Click here to learn more about the Juneteenth General Order from the National Archives. Click here to learn more about the history of Juneteenth; and click on the book jackets below for links to titles in our catalog.
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Ida B. Wells-Barnett
"Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won; you earn it and win it in every generation." Coretta Scott King
“Juneteenth has never been a celebration of victory or an acceptance of the way things are. It’s a celebration of progress. It’s an affirmation that despite the most painful parts of our history, change is possible - and there is still so much work to do.” President Barack Obama