Juneteenth

Resource Base

Prepared by:
Ryan Hatfield, Contractor
Table of Contents

People...................................................................................................................................4

History..................................................................................................................................9

Milestones & Facts ............................................................................................................13

Quotes ................................................................................................................................17

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 Juneteenth

Milestones

Illustration of the Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, originally printed in Harper’s Weekly.

Public Domain.

Juneteenth Origin: Gordon Granger delivers Emancipation to Texas (1865)

Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas announcing and enforcing the
end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865, marking the first Juneteenth. He
marched his troops to Galveston, Texas to announce General Order No. 3, which informed
the people of Texas of the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. Until Juneteenth,
slavery remained relatively unaffected in Texas, even after the Civil War’s conclusion. This
is because Texas never had major Civil War battles and there weren’t Union soldiers there to
enforce emancipation.

Major General Granger, born in November 1822, was an important leader in the Union’s
fight during the Civil War, rising to prominence after leading several brigades in the Army of
the Ohio in 1862. While serving as major general, he took part in the Siege of Knoxville,
Battles of Chickamauga and Chattanooga, and the capture of Mobile, Alabama.

Conner, R. C. (2022, February 15). General Gordon Granger: The Savior of Chickamauga
and the Man Behind “Juneteenth” (Leadership in Action). Casemate.

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 Portrait of Abraham Lincoln, 1863, created by Alexander Gardner.
Public Domain.

Abraham Lincoln changes the course of the United States (1861-1865)

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863,

declaring those enslaved in the Confederate State were forever free.

Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. He worked on a farm and
kept a store in New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln served as a captain in the Black Hawk War of
1832. He spent 8 years in the Illinois legislature and spent many years as a lawyer. He won
the Republican nomination for president in 1860, and then became the first Republican
president in American history. He became the 16th president of the United States on March
4, 1861.

The Civil War began as a conflict to maintain the union of all the states, after the
Confederacy broke off from the rest of the United States. As the war progressed, it became
increasingly about abolishing the institution of slavery. Once the Emancipation Proclamation
was made, Frederick Douglass called it, “The nation’s apocalyptic regeneration.”

Abraham Lincoln led the Union to victory over the Confederacy in restoring the United
States. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was killed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington by John
Wilkes Booth, a Confederacy sympathizer. Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s vice president,
assumed office upon his predecessor’s assassination. Johnson, as president, pardoned many
Confederacy leaders, vetoed civil rights bills, and did little to prevent aggressive southern
laws limiting the freedom of African Americans.

https://www.pvamu.edu/tiphc/research-projects/juneteenth-the-emancipation-proclamation-
freedom-realized-and-delayed/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/abraham-lincoln/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/andrew-johnson/

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 Civil War: Sergeant Carney became first Black Medal of Honor recipient

The first Black Medal of Honor recipient was Sergeant William Carney of New Bedford,
MA. Born into slavery in Virginia, he secretly attended school, eventually escaping to
freedom. During the Civil War, Carney was awarded for “most distinguished gallantry in
action” during the assault on Fort Wagner, SC, on July 18, 1863. After he was shot in the
thigh, he continued to lead his troops uphill on his knees, while carrying the fallen flag
bearer’s flag. He survived the war, returned to Massachusetts, became a postman, and played
an active role in Black veterans’ organizations.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/william-h-carney.htm

Illustrated portrait of Frederick Douglass, 1883, printed in Harper’s Weekly.

Public Domain.

Frederick Douglass: one of the most important abolitionists in U.S. history (1818-1895)

Douglass was born into slavery in 1818 in Maryland. He taught himself to read and write,
educated other enslaved people, and tirelessly rebelled against slaveowners. He escaped
slavery on September 3, 1838, after disguising himself as a sailor and boarded a train to New
York City. He settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts with his wife, Anna. There, he
became an orator and an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society.

Douglass bought and ran a successful newspaper, The North Star, and published two
autobiographies. He advocated for equal treatment and the end of slavery to Abraham
Lincoln. He served under 5 presidents as the U.S. Marshal for D.C., Recorder of Deeds for
D.C., and Minister Resident and Consul General to Haiti until his death in 1895.

https://www.nps.gov/frdo/learn/historyculture/frederickdouglass.htm

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 Al Edwards authored the bill to make Juneteenth a statewide paid holiday

Al Edwards is known as the “father of the Juneteenth holiday.” Edwards was a Texas state
representative from Houston. Because of him, Texas became the first to recognize
Juneteenth as a holiday in 1979. Over the course of his life, he helped 30 other states
implement Juneteenth holiday recognition laws.

https://www.oppl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Al-Edwards-Juneteenth-Statement.pdf

https://www.juneteenthusa.org/

President Joe Biden with Opal Lee, 2021, after signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act Bill..
The White House, Public Domain.

Opal Lee played a large part in making Juneteenth a federal holiday

On June 19, 1939, at the age of 12, Opal Lee and her family were displaced by 500 white
rioters in the town of Marshall, Texas. Her home was then burned and destroyed. As she
grew up, she became a teacher and an activist. She helped establish the Tarrant Country
Black Historical & Genealogical Society, Citizens Concerned with Human Dignity
organization, and the Fort Worth Juneteenth Museum.

In 2016, at the age of 89, she organized a march from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. to
make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Every year since, she’s organized two-and-a-half mile
walks in Galveston to symbolize the two-and-a-half years it took for the Emancipation
Proclamation to reach Texas, bringing an end to American slavery. In 2022, she was
nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Her nomination was signed by 33 members of Congress.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crossroads-lab/article257896338.html

https://abc7.com/opal-lee-juneteenth-2021-who-is-our-america-black-freedom/10761761/

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 Author Ralph Ellison Wrote Juneteenth to Discuss Contemporary Racial Issues

Ralph Ellison was a writer known for his novels, Invisible Man and Juneteenth. The latter
was published after his death in 1994, in which he, after serving as a U.S. Merchant Marine,
began his writing career. He is known for his reflections and analysis of being a Black man
in America.

https://www.read.gov/fiction/ellison.html

Mural of George Floyd, 2021, in Minneapolis. Created by Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrara, and Greta McClain.
Library of Congress.

2020 racial justice protests played a part in Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, was killed after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground
by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The video of Floyd’s death spread online, causing
racial justice protests and riots throughout the United States. The officers involved in the
death were fired and later charged with crimes. The officer responsible for kneeling on
Floyd’s neck for nine minutes was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder,
and second-degree manslaughter.

Floyd’s death, and the nation-wide protests that followed, sparked a renewed push for
protections for African Americans, the largest since the civil rights protests of the 1960s.
Police brutality is a hot-button issue in the United States, particularly how it relates to
African Americans. This cultural moment helped bring attention to the annual Juneteenth
holiday for many Americans.

https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/juneteenth-minneapolis-george-floyd/

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 Juneteenth

History

Juneteenth Celebration Poster by Jos Sances, 1988.

Library of Congress.

The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t immediately free all African Americans

Despite the January 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation promised freedom for enslaved
African Americans, it took a few years before all Black people were free. The Emancipation
Proclamation announced that all people held as slaves in rebellious states shall be free.
Because of the specific wording, enslaved African Americans in Union slave states, like
Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Delaware, were not freed by the decree.

In places under Confederate control, Black people in bondage sometimes didn’t get the news
right away. The news was kept from them, or slavers defied the decree for as long as they
could. The Proclamation was important because it galvanized Union soldiers and
encouraged free Black people to join the fight.

Texas, which was the westernmost Confederate state at the time, was the final state to free
the over 250,000 enslaved Black people living there. This happened on June 19, 1865, which
became the date we now celebrate as Juneteenth. The period of American history after this is
known as Reconstruction (1865-1877).

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth

https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth

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 Celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation in Massachusetts, 1863.
Burns Archive.

Juneteenth wasn’t the only day considered to celebrate the Emancipation Proclamation

There were several other days considered to celebrate the Emancipation, like September 22,
the date Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, or January 1, the day it officially
took effect. The January 1 was celebrated by Northern Black leaders, like Fredrick
Douglass, with midnight jubilees.

July 4 was another contender as well. However, this option was controversial for many
African Americans because the date coincides with the Founding Father’s compromise to
allow slavery in their new nation. Fredrick Douglass pointed this out in his famous 1852
speech, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” in Rochester, New York.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-
juneteenth/

Juneteenth was once a holiday almost exclusively celebrated in Texas

Because of The Great Migration, which saw the movement of approximately 6 million Black
people move from Southern states to other parts of the country, the celebration spread.

During the First Great Migration, from 1910-1940, many African Americans moved to cities
like New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. This movement occurred to escape racial
discrimination, including Jim Crow laws, and pursue more economic and educational
opportunities.

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration

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 Juneteenth Parade, 2020, in front of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress.

Traditional and Modern Juneteenth Celebrations

Juneteenth was originally known as “Jubilee Day.” Early on, white Texans outlawed these
celebrations in public spaces, which led to fundraising and organizing efforts by Black
Americans to purchase celebration sites, like Emancipation Park in Houston and Booker T.
Washington Park in Mexia.

The earliest celebrations were occasions in which African Americans did a variety of
activities:
• Gathered lost family members and traveled.
• Reflected on progress and instilled rising generations with values of racial pride and
self-improvement.
• Participated in religious sermons and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation.
• Celebrated with cookouts, large barbeques, and games like baseball or rodeos.

As the Juneteenth grew, the celebrations expanded to include:

• Juneteenth parades and dances with a variety of music.
• Jubilee pageants and community events that incorporated traditional African
American cuisine.
• Theater performances, some of which included reenactments of important events in
African American history.
• Gatherings and celebrations comparable to Thanksgiving and Independence Day.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-
juneteenth/

Jr., W. W. H. (1990, November 8). O Freedom: Afro-American Emancipation Celebrations

(1st Printing). University Tennessee Press.

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 President Obama and others sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Public Domain.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” became the Black National Anthem

The song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn written by James Weldon Johnson in 1900.
It is often referred to as “The Black National Anthem.” It was first performed in
Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. The song was prominently
used during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/lift-every-voice-and-sing

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 Juneteenth

Milestones & Facts

Illustration of the USCT, 1865. Originally created for the Supervisory Committee For Recruiting Colored Regiments.
Public Domain.

Civil War: African Americans Joined the Fight for their Liberation

“The United States Colored Troops (USCT)” were regiments of the United States military
during the Civil War, fighting for the side of the Union.

Before this, there was a long-standing 1792 law forbidding African Americans from serving
in the military, though they had fought in the American Revolution and War of 1812. While
uncertain of the decision in the early days of the war, President Lincoln and Congress passed
the Second Confiscation and Militia Act on July 17, 1862, which freed enslaved African
Americans who served Confederate rebels. This culminated just two days later with the
Emancipation Proclamation, which declared all slaves free in Confederate States.
Afterwards, Black service members began fighting on the side of the Union.

Enlistment accelerated after Fredrick Douglass encouraged African Americans to become

soldiers. Roughly 179,000 Black men served in the Army and 19,000 in the Navy by the
conclusion of the war. Sixteen Black service members were awarded Medals of Honor.
Despite this, segregation persisted in the military during the war. African American soldiers
were paid less than white soldiers in the Civil War until Congress granted equal pay in 1864.

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war

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 Reconstruction: 13th Amendment Ends Slavery

After the end of the Civil War, the 13th Amendment passed through Congress. In January
1865, this amendment officially ended slavery in the United States. It states, “Neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their
justification.”

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/13th-amendment

Segregated room for African American Service members during WWI, 1917-1919.
National Archives and Records Administration.

Reconstruction: The 14th Amendment Granted Full Citizenship to Former Slaves

Ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or
naturalized in the United States,” including formerly enslaved people. It also eliminated the
ability for any state to “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Despite this advancement, loopholes in the Amendment created the conditions for unfair
treatment moving forward. For instance, in Plessy v Ferguson, the Supreme Court
established the “Separate but Equal Doctrine,” which created harsh segregation throughout
the country.

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fourteenth-amendment

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 Illustration of Freedmen Voting in New Orleans, 1867.
Public Domain.

Reconstruction: 15th Amendment Gives All Men the Right to Vote

The final Amendment created in the wake of the Civil War was the 15th Amendment, which
granted African American men the right to vote. It was ratified on February 3, 1870.

Throughout the 1880s, Black men exercised their right to vote and even held office
throughout the south. Hiram Rhodes Revels of Mississippi became the first African
American member of the U.S. Congress, followed by a dozen other men. More than 600
Black men served in state and local offices.

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fifteenth-amendment

Reconstruction: New Challenges Emerged after the New Amendments

In the Southern States, these Amendments were effectively nullified because Jim Crow laws
beginning around 1865. White lawmakers created strict codes that detailed where, when, and
how African Americans could work and how much they could be paid. Because of
segregation, many public and private places forbade African Americans to enter. Segregated
Black schools were of far worse quality, and even had different textbooks.

With a legal system mostly occupied by former Confederate soldiers, it was difficult to win
court cases when civil rights were violated. When these laws were broken, Black people
often faced much harsher sentences. In prisons, many African Americans were once again
subject to involuntary, forced labor, which exploited a loophole in the 13th Amendment.

All of this was exacerbated by strict voting laws, which could require literacy tests or
“grandfather clauses,” which excluded former enslaved people who couldn’t read or didn’t
have relatives who voted in the 1860s. While these conditions existed primarily in the south,
racist laws existed all over the country. Jim Crow laws were enforced until the 1950s and
1960s Civil Rights Movements forced change. The impacts of these unequal laws are still
felt today.

https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/jim-crow-laws

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 Joe Biden signs legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday, 2021.
The White House, Public Domain.

Juneteenth Becomes a Federal Holiday

On June 17, 2022, President Biden released “A Proclamation On Juneteenth Day Of

Observance,” which officially recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. June 19 was
officially established as a day to celebrate freedom, reflect on heinous legacy of slavery, and
recommit to rooting out systemic racism. Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday since
Martin Luther King Day in 1983.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/06/17/remarks-by-
president-biden-at-signing-of-the-juneteenth-national-independence-day-act/

https://www.juneteenth.com/whitehouse/

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 Juneteenth

Quotes

Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, taken between 1860-1865.

Library of Congress.

“The people are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the
United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and
rights of property, between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing
between them, become that between employer and hired labor. The freed are advised to
remain at their present homes, and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be
allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there
or elsewhere.”

Union Maj. General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, reading General Order No. 3.

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/general-order-no-3

“Every year we must remind successive generations that this event triggered a series of
events that one by one defines the challenges and responsibilities of successive generations.
That’s why we need this holiday.”

Al Edwards, the “father of the Juneteenth holiday.”

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/05/us/juneteenth-fast-facts/index.html

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“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more
than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant
victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your
national greatness, swelling vanity.”

Frederick Douglass

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-
juneteenth/

“What I love about Juneteenth is that even in that extended wait, we still find something to
celebrate. Even though the story has never been tidy, and Black folks have had to march and
fight for every inch of our freedom, our story is nonetheless one of progress.”

Michelle Obama

https://twitter.com/MichelleObama/status/1274041285901529094

Ralph Ellison, 1961. Library of Congress.

“But what a feeling can come over a man just from seeing the things he believes in and hopes
for symbolized in the concrete form of a man. In something that gives a focus to all the other
things he knows to be real. Something that makes unseen things manifest and allows him to
come to his hopes and dreams through his outer eye and through the touch and feel of his
natural hand.”

Ralph Ellison in Juneteenth.

Ellison, R., & Johnson, C. (2021, May 18). Juneteenth (Revised) (Vintage International)
(Revised). Vintage.

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Updated October 2022

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