Juneteenth Research Guide

In this guide, you will find articles, books, eBooks, media, and open-access sources on Juneteenth.

Visit Galveston. (2025, March 10). The 160th anniversary of Juneteenth. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/1064475248

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Emancipation Day, is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on June 19th. It commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and marks the anniversary of the announcement by Union Army General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, that all enslaved people were free. This occurred more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had officially outlawed slavery in the Confederate states.

The holiday has long been celebrated in African American communities with various traditions such as public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs like "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and holding cultural events that highlight African American heritage and achievements. Over the years, Juneteenth has evolved from a local celebration in Texas to a widely recognized observance across the United States.

Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas in 1980, the first state to do so, and efforts to recognize it at the federal level culminated in President Joe Biden signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021, making it a federal holiday. The recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday represents an acknowledgment of the historical and ongoing struggles for racial justice and equality in the United States.