What is Juneteenth? Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It is also called Emancipation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day. The name Juneteenth references the date of the holiday, combining the words June and nineteenth., Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday., Juneteenth is the oldest nationally/internationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond., Juneteenth is an often overlooked event in our nation’s history. On June 19, 1865, Union troops freed enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay and across Texas some two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation., The resulting Juneteenth holiday — its name combining “June” and “nineteenth” — has only grown in one-and-a-half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a federal holiday — expanding its recognition beyond Black America., Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021. Here’s what you need to know about this important holiday. It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed.