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Juneteenth became one of five date-specific federal holidays along with New Year's Day (January 1), Independence Day (July 4), Veterans Day (November 11), and Christmas Day (December 25). Juneteenth is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared a holiday in 1986.
For more than one-and-a-half centuries, the Juneteenth holiday has been sacred to many Black communities. It marks the day in 1865 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed ...
On this day in 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed 250,000 enslaved people across the state that they were free. Juneteenth became an official federal holiday when ...
The holiday, often called America's second Independence Day, marks the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas.
The order, and Granger's enforcement of it, is the central event commemorated by the holiday of Juneteenth, which originally celebrated the end of slavery in Texas. The order was not read aloud by the Union Army, but it was posted around town, and communicated to most African Americans by slavemasters. [ 1 ]
The Juneteenth GVL Mega Fest took place in Falls Park on June 18. The event is free for the entire family and featured a day full of cultural and live performances from local bands.
Opal Lee (born October 7, 1926) is an American retired teacher, counselor, and activist in the movement to make Juneteenth a federally-recognized holiday. She is often described as the "grandmother of Juneteenth". [2] On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Senate Bill S. 475, making Juneteenth the eleventh federal holiday. [3]
Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas on January 1, 1980, led by African American state legislator Al Edwards. New Jersey made Juneteenth an official state holiday on June 25, 2020.