06/19/2026
Happy Juneteenth from FCPL!
Today marks 161 years since June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas learned they were free—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863.
Explore the history of this holiday through lyrical text and dynamic artwork in “They Built Me for Freedom: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston's Emancipation Park,” written by Tonya Duncan Ellis and illustrated by Jenin Mohammed.