Juneteenth, June 19, is a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It recognizes the day in 1865 when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger of the Union Army arrived in Galveston, Texas, and proclaimed that “all slaves are free,” in keeping with President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
One United Lancaster asked several local community leaders and educators to reflect on the meaning of Juneteenth, particularly the ways that history, historical education and individual memory interact to shape its resonance. Click each link below to read their essays.
- The cultural significance of the Juneteenth holiday, by Marquis Lupton, radio host and journalist; founder of TCP Network-The Cultured Professional.
- Behind the celebration, by Lenwood Sloan, artist, educator and activist; executive director of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Monument Project.
- Juneteenth and the role of the NAACP, by Blanding Watson, president, NAACP Lancaster branch.
- The storytelling tradition and praying for rain, by Kesha Morant Williams, researcher, educator and advocate; senior advisor for Diversity, Equity, and Belonging at Elizabethtown College.
- What would my great-great-grandfather think? by Marian V. Wilson, chief diversion, equity and inclusion officer and Title IX officer, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.
- Juneteenth: The role of a university, by Daniel Wubah, president, Millersville University