Juneteenth [ a blending of the words "June" and "nineteenth" ] is the oldest regular U.S. celebration of the end of slavery. It commemorates June 19, 1865: the day that Union Army Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and told slaves of their emancipation.
Did you know?
The June 19 announcement came more than two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. So technically, from the Union's perspective, the 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were already free–but none of them were aware of it.
When freedpeople tried to celebrate the first anniversary of the announcement a year later, they were faced with a problem: Segregation laws were expanding rapidly, and there were no public places or parks they were permitted to use. So, in the 1870s, former enslaved people pooled together $800 and purchased 10 acres of land, which they deemed “Emancipation Park.” It was the only public park and swimming pool in the Houston area that was open to African Americans until the 1950s.
The Juneteenth flag is full of symbolism— the colors red, white, and blue echo the American Flag to symbolize that the enslaved people and their descendants were Americans. The star in the middle pays homage to Texas, while the bursting “new star” on the “horizon” of the red and blue fields represents a new freedom and a new people.
Visit www.juneteenth.com/history for more information.
For Juneteenth 2022, all in-person bank locations will be closed as well as the call center on Sunday, June 19th and Monday, June 20th. ATMs, online banking, and mobile banking are available to access your accounts.
