Salem To Raise Juneteenth Flag At Saturday Ceremony

SALEM, MA — Salem will hold its municipal Juneteenth celebration on Saturday with a flag-raising, speakers and a rendition of the Black national anthem at City Hall.

The 3 p.m. event will include the Juneteenth flag-raising, Fidelia Eleazu's rendition of the Black national anthem and words on the significance of the day from Nicole McClain and Rev. Andre Bennett.

The city and the North Shore Juneteenth Association are hosting the outdoor event at 93 Washington Street with the public invited to attend.

The federal holiday of 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.)