My introduction to the word Juneteenth was as the title to a Ralph Ellison novel. No surprise there; I was an English major. But the history of Juneteenth goes back 150 years to June 19, 1865, when the proclamation pictured above was published and announced by Union General Gordon Granger. It was the day after Union forces arrived on Galveston Island, Texas, just a few months after the Civil War had ended. This formal announcement of the end of slavery in Texas (and more importantly the presence of Union troops to enforce the law) brought new hope and with it, celebration, the first of which was right there in the streets of Galveston. Juneteenth celebrations in honor of the event spread throughout the state of Texas over the next few years and indeed to African-American communities all over the country.
Known as Freedom Day in some places, or as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth is its most common name, a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth. It has become a day to recognize the accomplishments of black Americans and to celebrate African-American culture. And this, its 150th anniversary, is an important milestone, a day to celebrate and honor our hard-earned freedoms.
Lake Worthers and other South Florida locals looking for a nearby Juneteenth celebration will find one tonight at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum in Delray Beach.