05/23/2026
Save the date - Juneteenth (June 19) marks the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. It came two and a half years after President Lincoln’s declaration, making it the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country, awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free.
