City Of College Park: Juneteenth National Freedom Day

Press release from the City of College Park :

June 17, 2021

The City's Mayor and Council has proclaimed and recognized June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day to acknowledge the historical significance of the day, and to recommit the City to working toward the dismantling of institutionalized racism. 

On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas (more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln) and issued General Order Number 3 declaring that, in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, all enslaved people were free with "absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former master and those enslaved."  This momentous occasion has been celebrated as Juneteenth - a combination of June and 19.  

Juneteenth is celebrated each year on this date to commemorate when the last enslaved people in the United States were freed.  It is the oldest known public celebration of the end of slavery in the United States - and has been celebrated for more than 150 years.

Want to learn more about Juneteenth? The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture will be hosting a day of virtual programming and educational resources on Saturday.  Learn more at https://nmaahc.si.edu/events/juneteenth.

Free municipal holiday parking on Friday, June 18, 2021. City offices will be open this Friday, June 18, 2021.  To read the City's Juneteenth proclamation or to learn more, click here.

This press release was produced by the City of College Park. The views expressed here are the author’s own.