For more than 150 years, June 19 has been a day to celebrate the end of slavery in the United States. Communities across the country will mark the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas learned that they, and all other slaves in the U.S., had been granted freedom.

Juneteenth recognizes the official emancipation of enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865, symbolizing the end of slavery in the United States. This commemoration highlights the late announcement of freedom in Galveston, Texas, two years following the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War's conclusion.