Skip to content

Learn About and Celebrate Juneteenth


by Samantha Totman

Monday, June 19 marks the third year that Juneteenth is officially recognized as a state holiday. But Juneteenth means much more than just another day off. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when the news of the end of the Civil War reached Galveston, Texas, more than 2 years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery. Learn more about the history of Juneteenth and how it is celebrated below. You can also find your local Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony here.

Children’s Books

What is Juneteenth? by Kirsti Jewel
Book

Juneteenth by Lisa A. Crayton
Book

A Flag for Juneteenth by Kim Taylor
Book

Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle
Book

Opal Lee and What it Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth by Alice Faye Duncan
Book | eBook | eAudiobook

Adult Books

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Book | eBook | eAudiobook

Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration by Edward T. Cotham, Jr.
Book | eBook

Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started by Izola Ethel Fedford Collins
Book

Juneteenth: The History and Legacy of the Holiday that Commemorates the End of Slavery in the South by Charles River Editors
Book | eAudiobook

Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore, edited by Francis Edward Abernethy et al
Book

Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer
Book

Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880 by W. E. B. Du Bois
Book

Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor
Book

Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin
Book

Media

The History of Juneteenth by Juneteenth.com

Juneteenth YouTube Playlist by the National Museum of African American History & Culture

Historical Documents and Photos by the Texas State Historical Association

Interview on the History of Juneteenth with Annette Gordon-Reed by WBUR

Local Organizations & Programs

The North Shore Juneteenth Association

Find your local Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony here.

Juneteenth Festival at the Lynn Museum

Juneteenth Events in the Boston Area by Bostonusa.com

Many Boston area institutions, including the Museum of Fine Arts and Old Sturbridge Village, as well as towns like Gloucester and Newburyport, are hosting Juneteenth celebrations. Check your local listings for more celebrations and information.