🎉 Juneteenth
June 19 Grades K–5
Juneteenth, June 19, celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. It became a federal holiday in 2021.
📅 Next dates
- Friday, June 19, 2026
- Saturday, June 19, 2027
- Monday, June 19, 2028
📖 The story
President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, but news did not reach everyone. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people there were free.
Formerly enslaved people celebrated the next year, and Juneteenth — "June" plus "nineteenth" — has been celebrated ever since. It is also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day.
✨ Traditions
- Community festivals and parades
- Reading the Emancipation Proclamation
- Family cookouts
- Learning African American history
✂️ Activities
Freedom Quilt Square
- Draw a square on paper.
- Fill it with a picture or words about freedom.
- Put the class squares together into a paper quilt.
Juneteenth quiz
What does Juneteenth celebrate?
In which city was freedom announced on June 19, 1865?
When did it become a federal holiday?
💭 Let’s write
What does freedom mean to you?
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