Juneteenth is an unofficial American holiday and an official Texas state holiday, celebrated annually on the 19th of June in the United States to commemorate Union army general Gordon Granger apprising federal orders in the city of Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming all slaves in Texas were now free. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed them almost two and a half years earlier, and the American Civil War had largely ended with the defeat of the Confederate States in April, Texas was the most remote of the slave states, with a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.

Also called: Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Cel-Liberation Day, Emancipation Day
Observances: Exploration and celebration of African-American history and heritage
Next time: June 19, 2020
Observed by: Residents of the United States, especially African Americans, Mascogos
Significance: Emancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy
Frequency: Annual