At the end of the Civil War, though slavery was technically illegal in all states, it still persisted in the last bastions of the Confederacy. This was the case when Union General Gordon Granger marched his troops into Galveston, Texas on June 19th and announced that all enslaved people there were officially free.

Karlos K. Hill and Soraya Field Fiorio dig into the history of Juneteenth in this video.

The Empathetic Museum. [@empatheticmuseum] (June 19, 2023). “Repost from @eattheculture: is already in our Juneteenth celebration era! Let’s kick things off by sharing exactly what Juneteenth is and why we make a such big fuss about it in our creator community every year. @tededanimation” [Video]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/empatheticmuseum/p/Ctr1NNNyjLH/?img_index=1