The annual Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration was held on Monday at the Black Heritage Library & Multicultural Center in Findlay.

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated day commemorating the official ending of slavery in the United States.

It is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger, of the Union Army, who led his troops into Galveston in June 1965 (after the Civil War was over and two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation) and proclaimed freedom for enslaved people in Texas.

“The day has become a yearly time to celebrate with dance, music, food, and prayer. It now is a time to remember and share African American’s heritage and culture with fellow Americans.”

Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17th, 2021.

In the video below, Harrison Phillips, Board Vice Chair for the Black Heritage Library & Multicultural Center speaks about the origins of the celebration along with Charles Bevel.