How to Celebrate Juneteenth in Austin

Juneteenth is a significant day in U.S. history. The National Museum of African American History and Culture refers to Juneteenth as “our country’s second independence day.” Short for “June Nineteenth,” it is also known as “Freedom Day” and “Emancipation Day.”

What is Juneteenth?

On Jan. 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves who were in states that rebelled against the Union were now free. In the lead-up to the end of the Civil War in April 1865, Union soldiers traveled throughout Confederate states to read the proclamation to slaves.

On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to ensure that all slaves were freed. But enslaved people in Texas had not yet been fully emancipated, and to many, the news of their freedom was, in fact, news. The following year, June 19 was commemorated as a day of remembrance and “Jubilee Day” for the over 250,000 newly freed slaves. Juneteenth has since been widely celebrated in the African American community, and is especially significant in Galveston.

Road to Federal Recognition

Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a holiday in 1980. Forty years later, in the summer of 2020, nationwide protests against police brutality and demands for racial justice brought an increased awareness of Juneteenth and its significance. On June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden officially proclaimed Juneteenth as the 11th federally recognized U.S. holiday. Houston artist Reginald Adams and his team unveiled a Juneteenth mural in Galveston in 2021, and his work has rippled across the U.S. Adams has since helped to bring Juneteenth murals to 14 different cities, and counting.

How to Celebrate Juneteenth in Austin