06/19/2025
Historical origin: On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people were free, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln two and a half years earlier (on January 1, 1863). Texas was the last Confederate state where slavery continued due to a lack of Union presence.
Freedom delayed: Even though slavery had been legally abolished in Confederate states, many enslaved people in Texas didn’t know they were free until Granger's announcement. Juneteenth marks the moment the last enslaved African Americans were told they were free.
