Juneteenth: A time of reflection and celebration, with some historical and contemporary complications
Two and a half years after the Civil War ended, a Union general arrived in Texas, accompanied by 2,000 troops, and delivered the news that all enslaved Black people in the state were free. That was June 19, 1865, and on its one-year anniversary, the very first Juneteenth celebrations took place there.
Source: wfdd.org