readysetresearch: Black American Studies: Juneteenth

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What is Juneteenth?

"Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, has been celebrated by African-Americans since the late 1800s. On June 19, 1865, about two months after the Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Va., Gordon Granger, a Union general, arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued more than two and a half years earlier on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln. The holiday received its name by combining June and 19. The day is also sometimes called 'Juneteenth Independence Day,' 'Freedom Day' or 'Emancipation Day.'"

--Derrick Bryson Taylor, What is Juneteenth?, The New York Times

The Juneteenth flag is full of symbols. Here’s what they mean (click flag!)

Thank you!

To the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Libraries for using these excellent resources from it's Juneteenth LibGuide.

Online Resources

BlackPast
BlackPast is an online reference center is dedicated to providing information to the general public on African American history and the history of more than one billion people of African ancestry around the world.
Google Arts & Culture: The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth
Interactive site that allows you to explore and learn more about Juneteenth.
JSTOR Daily: Juneteenth and the Emancipation Proclamation
The emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. took place over a protracted period. The articles in this curated list dig into the complicated history.
Library of Congress: Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration (WPA). At the conclusion of the Slave Narrative project, a set of edited transcripts was assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves. In 2000-2001, with major support from the Citigroup Foundation, the Library digitized the narratives from the microfilm edition and scanned from the originals 500 photographs, including more than 200 that had never been microfilmed or made publicly available. This online collection is a joint presentation of the Manuscript and Prints and Photographs divisions of the Library of Congress.
Library of Congress: Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories
The recordings of former slaves in Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories took place between 1932 and 1975 in nine states. Twenty-two interviewees discuss how they felt about slavery, slaveholders, coercion of slaves, their families, and freedom. Several individuals sing songs, many of which were learned during the time of their enslavement. It is important to note that all of the interviewees spoke sixty or more years after the end of their enslavement, and it is their full lives that are reflected in these recordings. The individuals documented in this presentation have much to say about living as African Americans from the 1870s to the 1930s, and beyond.
National Museum of African American History and Culture: Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a time to gather as a family, reflect on the past and look to the future. Discover ways to celebrate this African American cultural tradition of music, food and freedom with the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
New York Times: How We Juneteenth
Extensive collection of essays, poetry, photos and more from the New York Times.
NYPL: #SchomburgSyllabus
The #SchomburgSyllabus is an archive of new and recent educational resources relating to Black studies, movements, and experiences. By connecting these materials to the Schomburg Center’s collections, we honor and recognize the source and strength of Black self-education practices, collective study, and librarianship. The #SchomburgSyllabus is curated by Schomburg Center staff and organized into 27 themes to foster a greater understanding of the Black experience.
U.S. National Archives: African American History
The Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the Black experience. This page highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media.