Gordon Granger: Latest News

Juneteenth 2023: What’s open and closed on Monday for the federal holidayFor beginners and those brushing up history, here's how the holiday came to be and how you can mark the occasion. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed.A young girl sits on a man's shoulders during the Louisville Juneteenth Festival at the Big Four Lawn on June 19, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images) Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in 1863, it could not be enforced in many places in the South until the Civil War ended in 1865. Even then, some white people who had profited from their unpaid labor were reluctant to share the news.Laura Smalley, freed from a plantation near Bellville, Texas, remembered in a 1941 interview that the man she referred to as "old master" came home from fighting in the Civil War and didn’t tell the people he enslaved what had happened."Old master didn’t tell, you know, they was free," Smalley said.

What shoes are fit for an 89-year-old woman trekking nearly 1,400 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C. to fight for Juneteenth, the day slavery ended in America, to be recognized as a national holiday?

What does it signify?Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery. Although slavery was already abolished more than two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln, it continued in some areas.Read Granger’s announcement in Texas below:The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.

NEW YORK – Nike, the NFL and other businesses will give their employees a day off for Juneteenth for the first time this year, the latest example of how American employers are responding to protests that have placed additional attention on racial injustice in the U.S.Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery. Although slavery was already abolished more than two years earlier by the Emancipation Proclamation, it continued in some areas.Texans began celebrating the day a year later with parades and parties.

The Atlanta Hawks logo at mid court is lit in red prior to an NBA game against the Dallas Mavericks at State Farm Arena (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks have designated Juneteenth as a permanent paid holiday for all employees. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery.