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Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth

Juneteenth, also called “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day," is celebrated each year on June 19 to commemorate the day on which the freedom of all remaining enslaved people was enforced. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued almost two and a half years earlier, many enslaved people were denied freedom until June 19, 1865. This is why June 19, or Juneteenth, became a symbolic date to represent freedom from slavery. Juneteenth became the 11th holiday recognized by the federal government on June 17, 2021.

Here are some suggestions for commemorating Juneteenth:

1) Visit our Juneteenth display in the Youth Services department.

2) Check out Kanopy's curated collection of films for Juneteenth, including The Long Shadow, Slavery and the Making of America, The End of Slavery, The Uncomfortable Truth, and many others. (A library card is required to access Kanopy. Get a card.)

3) Visit the Black Freedom Struggle in the United States database to read 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 current time. (A library card is not required to access this resource.)