Juneteenth is approaching, and this year marks five years since it was officially recognized as a federal holiday. But where did the holiday come from and what are some events Californians should look out for?
Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, commemorates June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, when the Union Army arrived and ordered the last enslaved Black people of the Confederacy to be freed. The holiday gained national attention amid widespread protests in 2020 over racial injustices, partly fueled by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
“Juneteenth is a time to reflect. What does it mean to really celebrate our freedom? What does it mean to be free in moments where freedom is conditional, and freedom is always a challenge?” Angela Tate, a former curator of African American women’s history with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, said on the museum’s website. “Juneteenth is a moment to think about freedom being conditional freedom and it is something that we must continuously strive and fight for.”
Here’s what to know about the holiday.
When is Juneteenth?
Each year, Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19, which this year falls on the third Friday in June.
Why is it called Juneteenth?
The name Juneteenth is a play on the holiday’s date, as it is a blend of the words “June” and “nineteenth.”
Juneteenth becomes a federal holiday in 2021
Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law on June 17, 2021.
“This is a day of profound weight and profound power, a day in which we remember the moral stain, the terrible toll that slavery took on the country and continues to take,” Biden said, the Associated Press reported.
After signing the legislation, Biden said it “one of the greatest honors I’ve had as president,” Colorado Newsline reported.
Did President Donald Trump cancel Juneteenth?
President Donald Trump did not cancel Juneteenth, as only Congress has the authority to eliminate a federal holiday.
The Trump administration did, however, remove the holiday from the National Park Service’s list of free days last year. The administration also removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day from the list of fee-free days at all national parks.
What is closed during Juneteenth?
As Juneteenth is a federal holiday services such as the post office will be closed on Friday June 19, in observance of the holiday, according to the post office’s website.
Financial institutions such as banks will be closed for the federal holiday, but ATMs and mobile banking will still be available.
Other federal and state services such as courts and the DMV will also likely be closed.
While private shops, grocery stores, restaurants and businesses will likely remain open, they could have limited hours.
What is the history behind Juneteenth?
“Juneteenth is a significant date in American history and the African American experience,” Mary Elliot, a curator of American slavery with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, said on the museum’s website.
The day is meant to commemorate June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, “finally learned of their freedom from the slavery system in the United States,” the National Park Service says.
Though people who were enslaved were granted freedom on Jan. 1, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, it didn’t immediately mean all those enslaved were free, the National Park Service says.
“Texas was the farthest of the Confederate states, and slaveholders there made no attempt to free the enslaved African Americans they held in bondage,” the NPS says. “This meant that President Lincoln’s proclamation was unenforceable without military intervention.”
It was not until June 19, 1865, two months after the conclusion of the Civil War, that the Union Army made its way to Galveston, Texas, “under the leadership of General Gordon Granger, and he announced to the people of Texas that all enslaved African Americans were free,” Elliot said.
“I like to think of Juneteenth as a celebration of freedom, of family, and of joy that emerged from this cauldron of the war. After hundreds of years of enslavement and the intense post-Civil War era, all of these emotions and feelings had built up to a particular point,” Kelly E. Navies, a museum specialist of oral history with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, said on the museum’s website. “Then, General Granger arrives with his troops (some of whom were members of the United States Colored troops) to announce that they will enforce the Emancipation Proclamation.”
Juneteenth celebration at Col. Allensworth State Historic Park
After the end of the Civil War, Lt. Col. Allen Allensworth, a formerly enslaved man who became an Army chaplain, and four other Black men established Allensworth in 1908, according to California State Parks. It marked the first and only town in the Golden State founded, financed, and governed by Black Americans.
“They selected an area in Tulare County because it was fertile, there was plenty of water, and the land was available and inexpensive,” California State Parks says. “They purchased 800 acres. The little town with a big vision grew rapidly for several years, to more than 200 inhabitants by 1914.”
Allensworth became a voting precinct and a judicial district in 1914, California State Parks says. That same year, Allensworth died when he was hit by a motorcycle while exiting a streetcar in Monrovia.
“After a funeral at the Second Baptist Church in Los Angeles, he was buried with full military honors,” California State Parks says.
With the demands for water from surrounding farms and communities in the Great Central Valley, “the water supply for the town and farms began to dry up,” California State Parks says.
The Great Depression then added another blow to the town in the early 1930s, and soon public services began to shut down as residents moved from the area.
“By the 1940s, most of the residents were migratory farm workers, and the population was mainly a mixture of Blacks and Hispanics,” California State Parks says. “Housing deteriorated, as most of the people didn’t consider Allensworth their permanent home. The population had shrunk to 90 in 1972.”
In the early 1970s, efforts emerged to preserve and restore the town, which eventually led to Allensworth becoming a California State Park.
“1974, when the town site became a state historic park, restoration of the existing historic structures began, and plans for further preservation, restoration, and reconstruction of the historic town, and for interpretation of the history of Allensworth,” California State Parks says.
This year, there will be a Juneteenth celebration at Col. Allensworth State Historic Park on Saturday, June 13, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Visitors are welcome to tour the park’s historic buildings and enjoy live entertainment, music, and food,” California State Parks says.
What are some other Juneteenth events in California?
Visit California has compiled a few upcoming Juneteenth events across the state. While some events listed have already passed, there are still many from Northern California to Southern California that people can still attend.
Here are the 10 events featured on the site:
Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com, 805-437-0224 or @ecentenoaraujo on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: When is Juneteenth? What to know ahead of the federal holiday
Reporting by Daniella Segura and Ernesto Centeno Araujo, USA TODAY NETWORK / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Daniella Segura and Ernesto Centeno Araujo, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
