Celebrations of Juneteenth — which combines the word June with Nineteenth — is one of the oldest celebrations commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It has its roots in the long-awaited moment of emancipation in Texas, where more than 250,000 enslaved black people received news on June 19, 1865 — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — that they were free.

Source: Washington Post June 19, 2020 23:03 UTC