Juneteenth: From Texas origins to a national celebration

Published via Hearst Television's Washington Bureau, June 2025

While relatively new on the national stage, the Juneteenth holiday has been celebrated in African-American communities for more than 150 years.

On June 19, 1865, two months after the end of the Civil War and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, 2,000 Union troops marched into Galveston, Texas, to inform the last group of enslaved Black people that they had been freed.

The first official celebrations, initially called "Jubilee Day" celebrations, took place a year later across Texas, featuring parades and public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation. Over time, these celebrations spread, and the date's name evolved into "Juneteenth," expanding to include church services, festivals, marches, community gatherings, picnics, and days of action. In 1997, the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation designed a flag to bring attention to the holiday.

By 2019, all but four states — Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Hawaii — had passed legislation recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday or observance. The movement to make it a federal holiday gained national attention in 2020, following George Floyd's murder and the ensuing "Black Lives Matter" movement, which sparked conversations about the legacy of racism in the United States.

In 2021, the Senate and House passed S. 475 and H.R. 1320, which sent the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act to President Joe Biden's desk. Now, all 50 states recognize Juneteenth, with celebrations occurring across the nation.