Happy Juneteenth!!! Facts about June-Teenth you may not be aware of: -Juneteenth Dates Back to 1865 At roughly 150 years old, this makes it the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. -Juneteenth Started in Galveston, TX On June 19th, 1865 Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston with 2000 Union soldiers to bring the news that the war was over and the slaves were free. -Juneteenth Is Two Years Late Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. That’s around 2.5 years before June 19th 1865. -There’s a Juneteenth Flag It was created by Ben Haith, Founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation (NJCF) in 1997. -Juneteenth Inspired the First Former Slaves to Buy Land Rev. Jack Yates raised $1000 to buy Emancipation Park for Juneteenth celebration. It still stands in Houston, TX today. -The Largest Juneteenth Celebration is in Mexia, TX One year, as many as 20,000 gathered in Booker T. Washington Park to celebrate. -Today Juneteenth Is A Holiday In 43 States Unfortunately none of these states give employees time off of work to celebrate. But if it wasn’t for the efforts of pioneers like state legislator Al Edwards encouraging state governments to recognize “Juneteenth Independence Day” as an important moment in American history, they might not have celebrated it at all -States that do not recognize Juneteenth are Arizona,Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire,North and South Dakota and Utah -“Juneteenth” Is A Portmanteau It’s a blend of June and nineteenth, the date on which the holiday is celebrated. Courtesy of Just J.R.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 15:18:32 +0000
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