Residents in Millinocket, Maine, say they are outraged after an insurance agency displayed a racist sign remarking on the new Juneteenth federal holiday. Lisa Groelly hide caption
Juneteenth Marks The End Of Slavery June 19, 1865, is the day slaves in Texas learned of their freedom after Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army delivered the news that the Civil War had ended.
Special Series
Juneteenth
Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900, in Austin, Texas. PICA-05476, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library hide caption
Amanda Gorman was the youngest inaugural poet when she read "The Hill We Climb" at President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021 at the age of 22. Danny Williams/Sun Literary Arts hide caption
Poet Amanda Gorman celebrates the gift of Blackness for Juneteenth
Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day, commemorates the end of slavery on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, in compliance with President Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Here, a young woman stands near a piece of art created during the Louisville Juneteenth Festival at the Big Four Lawn on June 19, 2021, in Louisville, Ky. Jon Cherry/Getty Images hide caption
USA. Mississippi. Tunica. 1985. © Eli Reed/Magnum Photos hide caption
Present at the unveiling was an emotional Terrance Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, who has been a significant presence in protests since his brother's death. David Dee Delgado/Getty Images hide caption
The Lincoln Center campus, presently adorned in a green carpet of synthetic grass, hosts a Juneteenth experience June 19. Sachyn Mital/Lincoln Center hide caption
In New York City, A Juneteenth Event Examines The Meaning Of Freedom
President Joe Biden is joined by Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress at the signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law in the East Room of the White House on June 17, 2021. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption
A signed copy of Emancipation Proclamation. AP hide caption
To Celebrate Juneteenth, Listen To A Reading Of The Emancipation Proclamation
Opal Lee, shown earlier this month, is celebrating this week's passage of legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday. President Biden signed the bill Thursday. Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images hide caption
President Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption
Emancipation Day is celebrated in 1905 in Richmond, Va., the onetime capital of the Confederacy. Library of Congress hide caption
A girl paints on a poster celebrating Juneteenth in downtown Jackson, Miss., on June 19, 2020. Congress has voted to make the day a federal holiday. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption
People observe a moment of silence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington on June 19, 2020, to mark Juneteenth. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption
Colette Baptiste-Mombo and her family at Jackson Memorial High School in 1974 Colette Baptiste-Mombo hide caption
Lara Downes, with her father in San Francisco, ca. 1975. Courtesy of the artist hide caption
Celebrating Juneteenth And Black Music Month With Classical Classics
Juneteenth marks when enslaved people in Texas learned they had been freed under the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum via AP hide caption
Beyoncé surprise dropped a new single late on June 19 to celebrate Juneteenth. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Tk National Archives hide caption
A statue in Galveston, Texas, honors state lawmaker Al Edwards, who authored a bill that made the date an official state holiday. City leaders gathered in the statue's shadow Friday for a ceremony remembering both Edwards and the emancipation. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (fifth from left) helps volunteers paint a Black Lives Matter mural in the borough of Staten Island on Friday, as the city marks Juneteenth. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images hide caption