06/19/2026
Juneteenth is one of the oldest commemorations of the end of slavery in the United States. It marks June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation at the end of the Civil War.
Within the National Park Service, Juneteenth helps connect this history to places and stories preserved across the National Park System that interpret emancipation, Reconstruction, and the broader struggle for civil rights.
Learn more about the history of Juneteenth at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/juneteenth-origins.htm
Image: The African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
