Beverly To Host Juneteenth Flag-Raising, Film Screening

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly will host Juneteenth events on Thursday that include a flag-raising ceremony and a free film screening.

Beverly will hold a ceremony at City Hall starting at 5 p.m. with a speaking program and the performance of the Black national anthem.

Residents are then invited to The Cabot Theater for a free screening of "Miss Juneteenth" starting at 6:30 p.m.

Free pizza will be available at the theater.

Juneteenth celebrates the date of June 19, 1865, when the slaves of Galveston, Texas learned of the Union's Civil War victory and their freedom. That date came two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)