The history of Juneteenth

Juneteenth, a hybrid of June and Nineteenth, celebrates the emancipation of all slaves and the official end to slavery in America. While the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect January 1st, 1863 it took a while for all the states to abide by it.
On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform a hesitant community that President Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves two years earlier. Several different explanations for the two year delay have emerged over the years, many of them stating that the news was deliberately withheld.
Years later, some Gulf Coast residents feel that the holiday should be celebrated more by all Americans. Resident Sophia Carrillo said, “America represents freedom. If we don’t represent that holiday than what kind of freedom is that if it’s hidden and we are embarrassed or something of celebrating being able to love and being able to believe and just being who we are as a country.”
Juneteenth is not a national holiday, but it has since expanded to over 40 states including Mississippi. Hundreds of people spent the weekend at an annual Juneteenth celebration in Biloxi.
Juneteenth is also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day.