Wednesday, June 19, 2024 1pm- 5pm
Beacon Field, Greenfield, MA, with Mpress Bennu of Moving Mountains
Greenfield Juneteenth Event Schedule
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday celebrated annually on June 19th in the United States. It commemorates the day in 1865 when the last group of enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, were informed of their emancipation from slavery, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all enslaved people in Confederate states were to be freed. However, the proclamation did not immediately free all slaves, as it only applied to states that had seceded from the Union and were in rebellion. Texas, which was not a part of the Confederacy, did not free its slaves until Union troops arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865, and General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3, which announced that all slaves were free.
After Granger’s announcement, many newly freed African Americans celebrated by singing, dancing, and gathering with their loved ones. The following year, on June 19, 1866, the first Juneteenth celebrations were held in Texas, with picnics, parades, and speeches by community leaders.
Juneteenth became an official Texas state holiday in 1980 and has since been recognized as a holiday in many other states.Juneteenth has become a symbol of African American freedom and a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. It is a time to reflect on the struggles and achievements of African Americans and to honor the legacy of those who fought for their freedom.
~~Thank you Sojourner Truth School!
