Presbyterian Mission Agency emancipation proclamation Archives

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

Posted May 26th, 2022

Juneteenth, the official freeing of enslaved people on June 19, 1865, in Texas, is one of the most important events in American history — but most students haven’t even been taught it. Maybe that will change now that Juneteenth is a national holiday.

Watch Night services ring in the New Year

Posted November 15th, 2021

Watch Night recalls the hopeful waiting for Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation to take effect in 1862, and today’s continued quest for racial justice.

Presbyterian Center celebrates Juneteenth with soulful service

Posted June 19th, 2020

COVID-19 has us all sheltering in place and employees of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are still working from home. But on Friday there was a great sense of oneness as the staff came together to celebrate Juneteenth.

Juneteenth in the age of Black Lives Matter

Posted June 18th, 2020

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing those who were enslaved, in January 1863. However, it wasn’t until two years later, on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. After this, more than 250,000 slaves across Texas learned that they were free.

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

Posted May 27th, 2020

Every year since 1865, there has been one day that most Black people have held as a celebratory occurrence. On June 19, 1865, the last of the Black Americans who were in the condition of chattel servitude were freed. Texas, the last state to hold out on the edict of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years prior, had finally been forced into compliance. And so, it is this date in June that many Black Americans consider to be Independence Day and thus a cause for annual jubilation that we have titled Juneteenth.

An American celebration

Posted June 19th, 2019

While not the most widely known or celebrated holiday, Juneteenth is certainly one of the more significant holidays in the history of this nation.

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

Posted May 16th, 2019

Every year since 1865, there has been one day that most black people have held as a celebratory occurrence. On June 19, 1865, the last of the black Americans who were in the condition of chattel servitude were freed. Texas, the last state to hold out on the edict of the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln more than two years prior, had finally been forced into compliance. And so, it is this date in June that many black Americans consider to be Independence Day and thus a cause for annual jubilation that we have entitled Juneteenth.

Minute for Mission: Juneteenth

Posted May 18th, 2018

Juneteenth, a blend of the words June and nineteenth, is an American holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.