“Juneteenth” will be celebrated on June 19 this year. Here’s a helpful introduction to this American national holiday, from Wikipedia:

“Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday’s name is a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth”, as it was on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War.^[8][9]

Early celebrations date back to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South amongst newly freed African American slaves and their descendants and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. Participants in the Great Migration brought these celebrations to the rest of the country. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, these celebrations were eclipsed by the nonviolent determination to achieve civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African-American freedom and African-American arts. Beginning with Texas by proclamation in 1938, and by legislation in 1979, every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has formally recognized the holiday in some way.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth)

The Family History Guide has some great resources for helping you to find helpful information about enslaved ancestors. Check out Goal 4: Slavery Resources *which also has QUIKLinks to record collections) and Goal 5: Breaking through Barriers, in the African American Project. You can find this Project at the bottom of the Countries menu, in the Ethnic section.