Juneteenth remembered, how Emancipation news reached Galveston

On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3 enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation and announcing that 'all slaves are free'. His arrival came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and effectively freed about 250,000 enslaved people in Texas who had not yet learned of their freedom. Communities now mark Juneteenth each year, and in 2021 the holiday became a federal holiday, symbolizing both the delayed enforcement of emancipation and the ongoing struggle for racial justice and equality.