What Is Juneteenth?

About What Is Juneteenth?

Which of these facts are true?
It’s a holiday to celebrate June 19, 1865, when Black Texans finally learned of their freedom
Family gatherings feature “red” foods like red velvet cake in memory of the bloodshed in the fight for freedom
Eighty-nine-year-old activist Opal Lee walked around 1,400 miles to help make Juneteenth a national holiday

Discover more about Juneteenth, the important holiday that celebrates the end of chattel slavery in the United States.

On June 19, 1865, a group of enslaved men, women, and children in Texas gathered around a Union solder and listened as he read the most remarkable words they would ever hear. They were no longer enslaved: they were free. The inhumane practice of forced labor with no pay was now illegal in all of the United States. This news was cause for celebration, so the group of people jumped in excitement, danced, and wept tears of joy. They did not know it at the time, but their joyous celebration of freedom would become a holiday–Juneteenth–that is observed each year by more and more Americans.

Author Kirsti Jewel shares stories from Juneteenth celebrations, both past and present, and chronicles the history that led to the creation of this joyous day.

With 80 black-and-white illustrations and an engaging 16-page photo insert, readers will be excited to read this latest addition to Who HQ!