5 Ways To Commemorate Juneteenth In Massachusetts

Events commemorating Juneteenth, a celebration of emancipation and a reminder of the long struggle for civil rights and equality, are taking shape across Massachusetts.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that enslaved people there were free. The announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.

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The date became known as Juneteenth, a portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth.” It is a nationwide civic and cultural observance, not just a single-day holiday. For generations, Black communities marked the day with gatherings, food, music, prayer, education and celebrations of freedom.

Commemorative events, ranging from large marquee celebrations to local community programming, will be held in dozens of major cities in every region of the country.

In Boston, there is the Juneteenth Celebration at Franklin Park on June 20.

Other Juneteenth celebrations in Massachusetts include:

• Juneteenth, Sturbridge, June 19
• Juneteenth Celebration, Everett, June 19
• 7th annual Juneteenth Celebration, Walpole, June 19
• Juneteenth Celebration, Lynn, June 20

Texas made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1980. It became a federal holiday in 2021 and is now observed annually on June 19 by the federal government and many state governments, schools, banks and private employers.

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