Juneteenth Celebration

The National Civil Rights Museum is celebrating the Juneteenth holiday on June 19 as a Community Day with free museum admission and a focus on health equity. This is the third year Juneteenth is observed as a federal holiday, and the museum welcomes all visitors to learn more about the origins and importance of the holiday and the stories of hard-fought freedom for all.

Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union soldier, Major General Gordon Granger, arrived in Galveston, Texas with 6,000 Black American troops to inform enslaved Texans the Civil War had ended, they were then free, and to enforce the law passed more than two and half years prior. This population of Black Texans were denied their freedom since January 1, 1863, when President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.