What is Juneteenth? Here’s how to learn more about the nation’s newest federal holiday.

The Juneteenth National Independence Day federal holiday had its origins 158 years ago in Galveston, when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived by sea to deliver General Order No. 3, informing residents that all enslaved people were now free.

That much is generally known, but the rich and complex history of the holiday contains multitudes of facts, setbacks and advancements, all of which inform the holiday that is now widely celebrated across the U.S.

To learn more, the San Antonio Report went straight to the source: Galveston resident Sam Collins, better known as “Professor Juneteenth.” 

Little-known facts

Collins is quick with little-known facts. For example, Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas in 1979, making its home state the first of 48 states to eventually adopt the Emancipation Day holiday before its elevation to federal holiday status in 2021.

But it was first proposed as a state holiday 100 years earlier, when Texas state Rep. Robert Evans tried to get Juneteenth recognized. Collins lent context to Evans’ unsuccessful attempt, saying the Compromise of 1877 that removed federal troops from the southern states, ending Reconstruction and ushering in the Jim Crow era of segregation, made such recognition impossible.

The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 formally ended slavery in the U.S., but the Confederate States did not obey federal jurisdiction and refused to enforce the law. 

“The news was not late to Texas,” Collins said. He cited Denton author D.J. Norman-Cox, who “identified at least 124 [Texas newspaper] references to the Emancipation Proclamation between September of 1862 and December of 1864,” before Granger’s arrival.

Collins also said slavery in Texas did not end when Granger issued the order on June 19, 1865. Union troops had to make their way across the large state to enforce the order, sometimes meeting resistance. By January of 1866, Collins said, 75% of Union troops were Black soldiers, which sometimes shocked white residents.

Juneteenth is personal for Collins, on several levels. Born in 1971, he recalls celebrating with his family even before 1980 ushered in the first official celebrations in Texas. But his family history goes much deeper.

When asked if he’s from Galveston, he answered, “Yes. Born on the island,” in his easy drawl. “I’m seventh generation Texan, with roots back to 1837.”

That meant his ancestors were enslaved people. Having just won independence from Mexico in 1836, “Texas was its own nation in 1837,” Collins said.

His ancestor Martha Thompson of seven generations earlier had “both parents … born on the continent of Africa. It doesn’t identify which country in the census records from 1880,” though, he said.

As a public historian, Collins said, “The work I do is not only for me … but it’s to honor the ancestors’ memories, and to tell the truth of the history.”

With federal recognition comes commercialization, Collins said, and he now sees part of his mission to make sure education stays a vital part of Juneteenth celebrations, “that we don’t miss out on what’s important, telling the story of how this journey of freedom happened here.”

In San Antonio

Locally, independent film company Melaneyes Media has filled the role of educating the San Antonio community on Black history, including Juneteenth.

On June 15, the online course What is Juneteenth?, led by Melaneyes Media creators Aundar Ma’at and Born Logic Allah, will introduce the basics of the holiday and its history. The follow-up course Understanding Juneteenth will present a 45-minute documentary further exploring the topic on June 18. 

What is Juneteenth? is presented as an interactive videoconference, with guests able to offer comments and ask questions via chat. Ma’at and Allah offer brief histories of the Emancipation Proclamation, the details of Granger’s General Order No. 3 that instructed those newly freed to stay on their current plantations to work for wages paid by their former enslavers, and the 13th Amendment finally outlawing slavery in the U.S. in December 1865.

The two also brought contemporary context to past history, discussing the nationwide protests of 2020 seeking police reform after the murders of George Flloyd and Breanna Taylor, and social media backlash against companies such as Walmart that have offered Juneteenth-themed products and specials.

“Commercialization is going to take place,” Ma’at said. “But we have a conscious decision to make on how we’re going to celebrate,” including supporting Black-owned businesses.

But education is key, he said. “Anytime we come together to celebrate, we should be educating, especially those who are new to the celebration.”

Melaneyes Media courses are offered on a donation basis and require a videoconference-capable internet connection.

To the source

Collins said Juneteenth can be celebrated anywhere, including in San Antonio, where Black Union troops marched “spreading the message of freedom,” he said.

And watching documentaries and participating in discussions will continue to spread that message, he said, but there’s nothing like going right to the source.

“When you visit Galveston, Texas, you are immersing yourself in the Juneteenth water and visiting some of the historic sites that were actually here in 1865 when the message of freedom came,” Collins said.

Those sites include the site of Granger’s headquarters on the southwest corner of 22nd Street and The Strand, the 1861 U.S. Customs house that soldiers would have occupied at the time, the Reedy Chapel that was given to formerly enslaved Black residents and became the first African Methodist Episcopal church in Texas, and the Ashton Villa, where the city’s commemorative Juneteenth marker stands.

Mary Beth Bassett of Visit Galveston said that while there is a bevy of parades, performances, lectures and other events during the city’s Juneteenth celebrations, self-guided tours featured on an app created by the tourism bureau offer visitors a chance to explore Juneteenth throughout the year. 

“It’s eye-opening,” Bassett said. “And I think more and more people are looking for those kinds of experiences.”