Juneteenth

Juneteenth (full name Juneteenth National Independence Day, also known as Freedom Day,^[1] Jubilee Day,^[2] and Liberation Day^[3]) is a holiday in the United States on June 19. It is a memory of June 19, 1865, when the slaves in Texas got their freedom and commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The name Juneteenth is a short form of June nineteenth.^[4] It became a recognized federal holiday in June 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.^[5][6][7]

President Joe Biden after making Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021

The first celebration of Juneteenth was in 1866. Over the years, it was sometimes more popular, and sometimes less popular. Texas was the first state to make it an official holiday in 1979.^[8] After George Floyd was killed in 2020, many people wanted to show their support for black rights.

Pictures

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  African Americans on Juneteenth in Houston, Texas, 1880
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  Old African Americans on Juneteenth in Texas, 1900
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  A rear Admiral of the United States Navy speaks to young people who are preparing the Juneteenth march in San Francisco, 2006
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  Governor Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania makes June 19 to "Juneteenth National Freedom Day"

Related pages

• Opal Lee

Sources

1. "Juneteenth: Our Other Independence Day". Smithsonian. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
2. "Cel-Liberation Style! Fourth Annual Juneteenth Day Kicks off June 19". Milwaukee Star. June 12, 1975. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
3. "It Happened: June 19". Milwaukee Star, vol. 14, no. 42. June 27, 1974. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
4. "Juneteenth Celebrated in Coachella". Black Voice News. June 22, 2011. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012.
5. S. 475
6. "Biden signs bill making Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery, a federal holiday". ABC News. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
7. President Biden [@POTUS] (June 17, 2021). "Juneteenth is officially a federal holiday" (Tweet). Retrieved June 18, 2021 – via Twitter.
8. Cruz, Gilbert (2008-06-18). Time. ISSN 0040-781X http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1815936,00.html. Retrieved 2020-06-19. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)