Juneteenth Celebration

Juneteenth marks our country’s second Independence Day. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and nearly five months after the 13th Amendment was proposed (it would not be ratified until December 6, 1865), enslaved people in Texas learned that they were free.

Admission to the Center is free on Juneteenth to celebrate this national holiday and rejoice in the celebration of those who fought to secure freedom for all. Visitors can commemorate this historic event with special tours of the Center’s exhibit, Civil War and Reconstruction: The Battle for Freedom and Equality. The exhibit is the first permanent exhibit in America devoted to exploring how constitutional clashes over slavery set the stage for the Civil War and how the nation transformed the Constitution after the war to fully embrace the Declaration of Independence’s promise of liberty and equality. Additional programs highlight freedom fighters from the Reconstruction era like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and more.