Juneteenth Offers the Opportunity to Commemorate the End of Slavery

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Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th, commemorates the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation signed into law in 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. After the passage of the proclamation, some southern states continued the practice of slavery nearly three years after the law went into effect. On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger read the proclamation to slaves in Galveston Texas. Thereby conveying to enslaved people in Texas that they were legally free. After decades of advocating for the recognition of Juneteenth, the holiday was officially observed in Virginia 2020; and became federally recognized in 2021.