Juneteenth originated in Galveston, Texas, when enslaved people were told of their emancipation on this day in history, June 19, 1865.
Texas was the first state to make it an official celebration.
The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, yet slavery’s end was not implemented in certain places that were still under Confederate control until later, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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“In accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”
Unspecified enslaved Black people are shown sitting on the veranda of a cabin, with bushes growing in the front garden, in Georgia, circa 1895. The property is as it would have appeared before the American Civil War. (FPG/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
It went on, “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.”
The official handwritten record of General Order No. 3, is preserved at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., according to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
It is considered the longest-running holiday in African American and Black communities, and was often observed with community celebrations on the third Saturday in June, PBS indicated.
The annual commemoration of Juneteenth has grown from local roots to a national celebration featuring parades, readings, procession, and more, chronicles the Galveston Historical Society.
In 2006, the Juneteenth Committee with the City of Galveston erected a statue of the reading of the order that remains a permanent reminder to residents and visitors of the June 19, 1865, event, according to the Galveston History Society.
On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making June 19 a legal public holiday. (Associated Press)
The City of Galveston transferred the building and grounds in 2018 to the Galveston Historical Foundation who now manage and preserve the property, according to the same source.
On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, making June 19 a legal public holiday.
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The day joined 10 other permanent federal holidays — including Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day, according to the Congressional Research Service.