What President Declared Juneteenth a National Holiday?
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. Celebrated on June 19th each year, it marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform the enslaved African Americans that they were free. The news of the Emancipation Proclamation had been announced two and a half years earlier, but it took this final delivery to bring the message to the last enslaved people in the country. Over the years, Juneteenth has grown into a significant cultural and historical celebration, but it wasn’t until recently that it was recognized as a national holiday. This article explores the president who declared Juneteenth a national holiday and the significance of this historic decision.
