PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Juneteenth celebrations unfolded across the U.S. on Thursday to mark the day in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Texas. The events include one in Galveston — the holiday’s birthplace — where former President Joe Biden was expected.
Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations, but became more widely observed after Biden designated it a federal holiday in 2021. It is recognized at least as an observance in every state, and nearly 30 states and Washington, D.C., have designated it as a permanent paid or legal holiday through legislation or executive action.
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On the East Coast, the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire orchestrated a weekslong celebration that will culminate with a community dance and rededication of the African Burying Ground Memorial Park in Portsmouth. In Virginia, a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for rebuilding the First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, one of the nation’s oldest Black churches,
The holiday to mark the end of slavery in the U.S. goes back to an order issued on June 19, 1865 as Union troops arrived in Galveston at the end of the Civil War. General Order No. 3 declared that all enslaved people in the state were free and had “absolute equality.”
Those who planned the history tours, community discussions and other events in New Hampshire said they wanted to highlight contradictions in the familiar narratives about the nation’s founding fathers ahead of next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“Although they are historically courageous, smart men, they were also human. They held people in bondage. They had children with their enslaved,” said JerriAnne Boggis, the Heritage Trail’s executive director. “What would the story look like if the story of America was told from these Black descendants?”
The celebrations come as President Donald Trump’s administration has worked to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government and remove content about Black American history from federal websites. Trump’s travel ban on visitors from select countries has also led to bitter national debate.
During his first administration, Trump issued statements each June 19, including one that ended with “On Juneteenth 2017, we honor the countless contributions made by African Americans to our Nation and pledge to support America’s promise as the land of the free.”
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New Hampshire, one of the nation’s whitest states, is not among those with a permanent, paid or legal Juneteenth holiday, and Boggis said her hope that lawmakers would take action making it one is waning.
“I am not so sure anymore given the political environment we’re in,” she said. “I think we’ve taken a whole bunch of steps backwards in understanding our history, civil rights and inclusion.”
Still, she hopes New Hampshire’s events and those elsewhere will make a difference.
“It’s not a divisive tool to know the truth. Knowing the truth helps us understand some of the current issues that we’re going through,” she said.
And if spreading that truth comes with a bit of fun, all the better, she said.
“When we come together, when we break bread together, we enjoy music together, we learn together, we dance together, we’re creating these bonds of community,” she said. “As much was we educate, we also want to celebrate together.”
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