Today, June 19, 2024, marks the fourth year Juneteenth has been recognized as a Federal Holiday. You can honor Juneteenth with our curated list of books and movies to learn more about the holiday and its history.
What is Juneteenth, and how did it get started?
First, let’s start with a quick history lesson.
You may have heard that the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people. However, it only freed 500,000 out of the roughly 3.9 million enslaved people in the U.S. The proclamation only applied to the Confederacy and the states that had seceded during the Civil War. In addition, it could only be enforced if Union troops had re-occupied that territory in the South.
One of the places the Proclamation was not enforced was in Galveston, Texas. On June 19, 1865, after the Civil War had come to a close, and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, 2000 Union troops came to Galveston to inform the people that slavery was abolished. The law was finally enforced, and the enslaved people who were denied freedom for the past two years in Texas were finally freed on June 19th.
On Dec 6th, 1865, the 13th amendment was ratified, and slavery was finally abolished across the country, including in states not a part of the Emancipation Proclamation, like Delaware and Kentucky.
In 1866, people in Galveston, Texas, began celebrating Juneteenth and have celebrated ever since. Today, Juneteenth represents hope and all forms of freedom and is celebrated around the country with cookouts, festivals, food, and continued learning of history and culture.
#Juneteeth2024 #CelebrateJuneteenth
Here are some library materials and resources for commemorating Juneteenth
- Visit the library to find books and movies that explore the themes of Juneteenth.
- Stream one of Kanopy's curated collection of films, including The Long Shadow, The Abolitionists, A New History of the American South, 100 Years from Mississippi, and many others. Get a library card to access Kanopy.
- Explore the Black Freedom Struggle in the United States database to find primary source documents, including historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence, and more from specific time periods in U.S. history marked by the opposition African Americans have faced on the road to freedom from 1790 through the present. (A library card is not required.)
