When is Juneteenth 2025? Juneteenth meaning and how to celebrate in Delaware
Juneteenth recognizes one of the most important moments in United States history.
Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Juneteenth Independence Day and Black Independence Day, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
Although Juneteenth has been unofficially celebrated for more than 150 years, the U.S. now commemorates the day as an official holiday.
Here's how the holiday started and why we celebrate each year:
Are banks closed on Juneteenth 2025?: What's opened and closed on June 19
Declared by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 during the American Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves held in Confederate states.
However, it took the 13th Amendment for emancipation to become national policy. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House on Jan. 31, 1865, according to National Museum of African American & History of Culture.
But not all slaves were freed. It wasn't until June 19, 1865, when about 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, to help free more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state through executive decree. This day came to be known as Juneteenth by the newly freed people in Texas as a symbolic date representing African American freedom, according to the Smithsonian.
"Juneteenth marks our country's second independence day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans," according to the NMAAHC.
The holiday is observed annually on June 19 to honor the slaves freed in Galveston Bay, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
Texans celebrated Juneteenth beginning in 1866 with parades, cookouts, prayer gatherings, historical and cultural readings and musical performances, according to Congress. As time passed, communities developed different traditions for the holiday. Juneteenth celebrations spread across the U.S. as families migrated from Texas.
In 1980, Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth a state holiday.
Juneteenth will soon be kicking off across Delaware. From parades and festivals to performances and historical tributes, communities throughout the First State are honoring the holiday with a full slate of events that reflect both celebration and remembrance.
Check out all the events here.
Yes. Juneteenth is one of 13 legal holidays observed by the First State.
The legal holidays currently recognized by the State of Delaware are:
New Year's Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Good Friday
Memorial Day
Juneteenth
Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July
Labor Day
Election Day
Return Day, observed after noon for state employees living and/or working in Sussex County
Veterans Day
Thanksgiving Day
The day after Thanksgiving
Christmas Day
Juneteenth 2025 in Delaware: Where to find parades, festivals and celebrations this month
Delaware fireworks: New bill would toughen penalties for violations
Yes. Juneteenth is observed as a federal holiday and is designated as a permanent holiday and commemorated annually by many states. In 2023, 28 states and Washington, D.C. recognized Juneteenth as an official public holiday, according to the Pew Research Center.
Florida, Oklahoma and Minnesota were the first states outside Texas to commemorate Juneteenth as a day of observance in the 1990s, according to the Pew Research Center.
This means federal workers get a paid day off and there's no mail delivery, while most federal offices, banks and bond markets that trade in U.S. government debt are closed this day.
Other states may commemorate Juneteenth as a day of observance or in some other form.
President Joe Biden signed the bill on June 17, 2021, declaring Juneteenth the 11th U.S. federal holiday and the first to obtain legal observance as a federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designated in 1983.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: When is Juneteenth 2025? Juneteenth meaning, Delaware celebrations
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fourth annual Juneteenth celebration brings resources, information to community
To Kathy Brooks, president of the Frederick County alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., the essence of Juneteenth is information. The holiday honors the last group of enslaved African Americans in the Confederacy to learn of their freedom. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, which was effective Jan. 1, 1863; but word did not arrive in Galveston, Texas until June 19, 1865. "The whole idea of not having information is how we tie in our community today," Brooks said. "The purpose of this is to provide our community with information, so that nobody has to feel as though they're enslaved, if you will, or that they're just a victim of not having resources." For the past four years, the local chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. has sought to connect people with those resources through its Juneteenth Celebration and Community Day. Brooks said the annual event started with around 25 partner organizations, but has since grown to include nearly 80. Sunday marked the first time the celebration has been held at Carroll Creek Linear Park. Partner organizations at the festival were grouped into five categories — education, economic development, international awareness, physical and mental health, and social action. Organizations provided information applicable to the general public as well as information specific to the Black community, such as materials on Black maternal health and human trafficking among Black women and girls. In addition to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., several other local chapters from the "Divine Nine" — a group of historically Black sororities and fraternities — had a presence at the event. There were also performances from spoken word artists, instrumentalists, singers and dancers. Black-owned businesses including Kuks Tribute Cuisine and Alpha Jerk Center brought food trucks to the event. "Our organization, while we are open to all, we do focus on the Black community," Brooks said. "But this is also a really great opportunity for those organizations to be able to interface with a population that they might not normally interact with." Derrick Riley of Urbana came to Sunday's event with his wife Kristen — a member of the Deltas — and their two children, 8-year-old Chandler and 6-year-old Aubrey. Riley said it was the family's first time coming to the Deltas' Juneteenth Celebration and Community Day. He said he liked the community involvement and appreciated the number of health services that were offered. Shianne Brown of Frederick said she did not realize there was a Juneteenth event going on when she brought her two children, 6-year-old Ariah and 2-year-old Zuri, out for a walk along Carroll Creek. One of the event organizers let Brown know about the festival's children's area, so they decided to stick around for a game of giant Jenga. Now that she knows about the festival, Brown said she would definitely come back in the future. She said Juneteenth is a significant occasion for her as a Black woman with two Black children. Ariah said she didn't know anything about Juneteenth, but made it clear that she still has plenty of time to learn. "I'm only in kindergarten," she said.
CBS News
11 hours ago
- CBS News
Philadelphia caps off Juneteenth holiday weekend with parade, festival in West Philly
On one of the hottest days of the year, people lined the street in West Philadelphia on Sunday for the city's Juneteenth parade. "Everyone is just so friendly and cordial. I love it," Geraldine Drakes said. "It's a great thing to see like-minded people get along, and hopefully with the state of the country and the world right now, we need more of this," Johney Jenkins said. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker helped lead the parade down South 52nd Street. It was a showcase of unity in the city to honor an important day in our nation's history. "I just like seeing us all get together besides a funeral. Seeing us all together out here uniting. It's not even just all Black. It's White people out here showing the love, too. It's a beautiful thing seeing everybody together as one," Tameka Morris said. The holiday, which is officially June 19, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 when enslaved African Americans in Texas learned of their freedom two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. "It's sad that it took so long to become a national holiday," Jenkins said. "The liberation of any people should be celebrated. Not only Americans, Black Americans, brown Americans, yellow Americans, everybody. It's a great thing to see, and hopefully we can build off of this as a community." The Juneteenth celebration continued at Malcolm X Park. The festival included food, music and vendors of all kinds. The spirit of community was on display. People said it was great to see everyone come together. "I think the city gets a ton of negative shine sometimes and I think this is an amazing example of overall truth of Blackness, of Black history and Black culture," Christopher Crawford said. It was a day that reminded us all of where we've been and also how far we've come.
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Minnesota's connection to the "fathers of Juneteenth"
Long celebrated by African Americans, Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, and a Minnesota state holiday two years later. Parades, concerts, informal and formal gatherings are just some of the ways families and communities honor what's also called Freedom Day. But it's much more than just a party, says Lee Henry Jordan, National Juneteenth's Midwest and state director. "You need to know the history of what you're commemorating and celebrating," Jordan said. "The 13th Amendment, the Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3, we call those some of the 'Freedom Documents.'" Jordan believes all who take part in celebrations should know that in 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in states that tried to secede from the United States. Two years later, in June 1865, about 2,000 Colored troops marched into Galveston Bay in Texas to enforce General Order No. 3, which formally freed about 250,000 enslaved people who were being held illegally. Jordan calls members of four regiments — the 20th, 28th, 29th and 31st United States Colored Troops — the "fathers of Juneteenth." "The history of the United States Colored Troops, that should be a part of the celebration," Jordan said. Members of the United States Colored Troops. He hopes people look to uncover the freedom story of their own family, diving deep into history. "There were people that didn't get press but still did the work, and those people are in your family," he said. Jordan truly believes someone in his family wore the Union uniform and was in Galveston Bay in 1865. Through his research, he found at least one Minnesotan there. "William Crosley, and the fact that he's buried in Rochester, Minnesota," he said. "He was at Galveston, Texas, when the United States Colored Troops were there. So if he was there, who else was there?" He believes following a trail of history can unlock your family's freedom story. "There is a continuing story, energy, power, whatever you want to call it, that's connected to freedom," he said. "Find whatever that is for you, bring that to a Juneteenth celebration, and trust me, you will find a kindred spirit." Kindred spirits with shared history — American history — that should be celebrated by all. "If you don't leave there with a little bit more knowledge of who you are and where you come from and what can be done, then, now I think you're missing a little something," he said. Click here for a list of Juneteenth events this weekend in the Twin Cities, including the Great Minnesota Cookout on the lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol.
