Juneteenth: Origins and Designation as a Federal Holiday

This Friday marks Juneteenth, an annual observance that some Black Americans have marked for more than 150 years, though it received federal holiday status only in 2021. The date commemorates a specific announcement in Texas rather than the nationwide end of slavery. Many Americans have not encountered detailed accounts of the event in standard history curricula.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The order declared that all persons held as slaves in Confederate states then in rebellion against the United States “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Enforcement depended on Union military advances, and slavery remained in place in areas under Confederate control as well as in several Union border states.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union forces at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Orders No. 3. The order informed residents that, in accordance with the presidential proclamation, all slaves were free. The announcement gave the date its common name, Juneteenth, also referred to as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day in some accounts.

Juneteenth is the earliest widely recorded public observance tied to the end of slavery in the United States. It did not coincide with the legal abolition of slavery nationwide. The Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits slavery except as punishment for crime, was passed by Congress in January 1865 and ratified on December 6, 1865. Ratification required approval by three-fourths of the states then in the Union; the process included both former Confederate states and several states that had remained in the Union throughout the war.

Local celebrations of June 19 continued in Texas and spread to other states over subsequent decades. Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth an official state holiday in 1980. Additional states later recognized the date as a holiday or day of observance through legislative action.

During his presidency, Barack Obama issued annual proclamations noting the date. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The bill passed Congress with support from both parties. In the accompanying proclamation, Biden stated that formerly enslaved people “were recognized for the first time as citizens” and that Black Americans “came to commemorate Juneteenth with celebrations across the country.” He described the day as one that “should be recognized by all Americans.”

Tommie D. Boudreaux, a founding member of the Galveston Historical Foundation African American Heritage Committee, has stated that the federal designation recognizes the role Black Americans played in the country’s development. She described the recognition as long overdue.

Juneteenth remains a state holiday or observance in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Federal employees receive the day off when it falls on a weekday. Observances typically include public readings of General Orders No. 3, historical lectures, and community gatherings. The date continues to be observed on June 19 regardless of the day of the week on which it falls.