06/19/2026
Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that enslaved people in Texas were free. While President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation declared freedom for enslaved people in Confederate states, it was not until the 13th Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865, that slavery was fully abolished throughout the United States. In the decades that followed, Juneteenth observances spread across the country. In 2021, Juneteenth was established as a federal holiday.
At the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington D.C., the central feature is a bronze sculpture by artist Ed Hamilton titled The Spirit of Freedom. The work stands as a tribute to the United States Colored Troops and honors the courage and sacrifice of those who fought for freedom during the Civil War.
Photo by National Park Service.
