Quick Summary
June 19th is celebrated across the United States as Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day the very last slaves were freed. If you'd like to learn more about this holiday, there are several resources in eLibrary Minnesota that provide insight into the history of this day.
June 19th is celebrated across the United States as Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day the very last slaves were freed. Although slavery had officially been abolished for nearly two years, it wasn't until June 19th, 1865 until the order reached Galveston, Texas. If you'd like to learn more about this holiday, there are several resources in eLibrary Minnesota that provide insight into the history of this day.
Britannica Academic offers a brief history of the holiday, as well as photos and images related to Juneteenth, such as the art seen in this article. MasterFILE Premier contains many magazine articles written about this day, such as "Juneteenth in Texas," a 1997 article describing the slow and steady Juneteenth revival in cities such as San Antonio and Houston Gale In Context: High School has a recording of an NPR story from 2001 with culinary anecdotes from former slaves:
"Imagine planting, harvesting, cooking, curing, canning, smelling, serving foods that were not for you. Imagine always setting a table where you could not sit down."
Take time today to learn more about the historic struggles of the Black community in our country—and when you're done learning, I challenge you to find something you can do now to help the Black community with its current struggles.
Image details: African Americans celebrating the anniversary of the end of slavery in Washington, D.C., 1866.
© North Wind Picture Archives
