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How My Birthday Became a Federal Holiday —The Story of Juneteenth
By ileta! A. Sumner
In 1989, I learned that dancer Paula Abdul and I were born on the same exact day. Previously, in 1979, I found out that my favorite comic strip character, Garfield, had been created on my birthday; and each year, the strip shows him getting a ginormous birthday cake. However, since I was a little girl, I knew that I shared my birthday with the annual Juneteenth festivities that began in Texas, even though I was born and raised in San Francisco, California. My mother had told me that Juneteenth was the day in 1865 when the enslaved black people in Texas finally found out that Abraham Lincoln had freed them, by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, two-and-a half years earlier.
What stumped me as a child, though, was: Why was everyone so happy? After all, people of my race had remained enslaved in Texas far longer than those in other Confederate states. To me, it did not seem as much a cause for celebrating but for searching out the head of the Pony Express to chastise him for the delay in disseminating the information! Why had it taken so long for the enslaved people of Texas to get the news of their freedom? Furthermore, why had President Biden decided to consecrate that infamous day in African American history as a nationwide federal holiday 160 years later?
The name, Juneteenth, is a clever combination of the name of the month, June, and the day, the nineteenth, on which word ultimately reached Galveston, Texas, in 1865, that all enslaved people were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Yet, it was exactly three years before, in June 1862, that Abraham Lincoln had signed a bill abolishing slavery in the western territories. That bill had a limited effect, setting free all enslaved people brought by “disloyal masters” into Union-held territory. However, Lincoln had bigger plans. He wanted to free the entire enslaved population in the Confederate states. While constitutional restraints prohibited him from emancipation on this wider scale, because of his position as Commander-inChief of the United States, he could exert special power and get around the Constitution by doing away with slavery for military reasons. The Confederate Army was then using enslaved workers in support roles, such as maintaining operations at plantations and farms, while their masters were away fighting. Granting freedom to the enslaved workforce in Confederate states would cripple their war effort. Thus, in order to be the most effective, timing of the emancipation was of the essence.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—the opportunity presented itself with the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, the Civil War’s bloodiest battle, in which there had been over 23,000 casualties on each side. Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s first venture into Union territory had been a sheer disaster. He retreated the very next morning, and gave Lincoln just the opening for which he had been waiting. Five days later, Lincoln released a preliminary proclamation declaring his intention to free enslaved people on January 1, 1863, in all of the states that had left the Union, unless those states rejoined before that deadline. None did. Therefore, on that date, the Emancipation Proclamation freed approximately three-quarters of the enslaved people in the United States. It is important to note that the Emancipation Proclamation would not free all enslaved people in the United States: it left unaffected approximately 800,000 people held in bondage in Native American Territories; the four loyal states that permitted enslavement (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri); thirteen parishes in Louisiana (including New Orleans); and forty-eight counties in eastern Virginia (including Norfolk and Portsmouth). Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, explained that although not all enslaved people achieved freedom in 1863, the federal government finally was taking a firm stand, and saying that slavery was wrong and must end. At the time, Lincoln pronounced, “I never, in my life, felt more certain, that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper. If my name goes down I history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.”
As word of the Emancipation Proclamation filtered through the Confederate states, the formerly enslaved population gradually became aware of their freedom. They walked away from their plantations whenever Union soldiers were nearby and could offer extra protection from those who ignored the power of the Proclamation. Hence, enslavers began to “refugee their slaves,” by hiding them from Union soldiers.
Before the Proclamation, as many as 50,000 enslaved people were moved to Texas. Perhaps three times that number were relocated to Texas after the Proclamation. Still, the enslavers in Texas represented only 30% of the families in the state. Moreover, no more than 2% of those families enslaved twenty or more people. Nevertheless, Texas had become a “safe haven” for those seeking to perpetuate the system of chattel slavery, most likely because there was very limited Union presence here (since no major Civil War battles had been fought in Texas), and there were few opportunities for formerly enslaved individuals to seek assistance behind Union lines. Although the Civil War continued until General Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1965, the practice of slavery continued in Texas until Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with 2,000 soldiers on June 19, 1865. Reading “General Order No. 3,” Granger informed the people of Galveston—and effectively all of the residents of Texas—that slavery would no longer be tolerated and that all enslaved persons in this state were, as of that moment, free.
General Order No. 3
The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer….
Why had it taken so long to reach the border of Texas? Many reasons have been proffered, including the following: (1) a messenger was murdered on the way to Texas; (2) news was deliberately withheld by enslavers to maintain the free labor force on plantations; (3) federal troops actually waited for the harvest of one last cotton crop before going to Texas to enforce the Empancipation Proclamation: (4) poor communication of the time. The exact reason for the delay will never be known. Most likely, it was a combination of all of the above.
No matter the reason, though, it did nothing to quell the overwhelming feeling of happiness among the newly freed Texans. The majority of the freed black citizens opted out of the “opportunity” for employment with their former enslavers. Instead, they celebrated the fact that, after centuries of bondage, they were free. As the formerly enslaved Felix Haywood stated, “Everybody went wild! We all felt like heroes. We were FREE!” (emphasis added.) The exhilaration was such that, thereafter, some former enslaved people and their descendants would travel to Galveston year after year in honor of what had become known as Juneteenth.
Surprisingly, it was not uncommon for white people to prevent black people from gathering for such parties and picnics in public places. The celebrants would not be deterred, though, and devised some ingenious ideas to preserve their celebrations. For example, in 1872 black leaders in Houston collected $1,000 and purchased a parcel of land specifically for Juneteenth celebrations. Consequently, that place was named Emancipation Park, and retains that name to this day.
After the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, granting freedom to formerly enslaved citizens, equal rights under the Constitution, as well as a limited right to vote, Juneteenth celebrations were a time for black people to learn about their right to vote and how to exercise that right. According to the Texas State Historical Association, rodeos, horses, cookouts, parades, church services, musical performances, and other public events all became a part of recognizing Juneteenth, which has also been called Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day, 2nd Independence Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and now, a National Holiday.
On June 17, 2021, President Joseph Biden signed into law a bill sponsored by Senator Edward Markey, D-MA, (along with sixty co-sponsors!), making the commemoration of Juneteenth a federal holiday. The day was already a holiday in nearly all fifty states. In 2016, to bring attention to the need to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, 96-year-old Opal Lee—a former teacher and activist, who was known as a “little old lady in tennis shoes”— walked from her home town of Fort Worth to Washington, D.C. Much like Stevie Wonder’s 1980 song “Happy Birthday” had spurred Coretta Scott King and other luminaries to push for recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a federal holiday four decades earlier, Opal’s efforts gained the attention of celebrities and politicians, enticing them to support the endeavor. Another probable impetus for recognizing the traditionally black holiday was the national dismay over the part race played in the murder of George Floyd in 2020. That horrible incident helped set the stage for Juneteenth to become the first federal holiday created since the creation of MLK Day in 1983. When the measure was brought for a vote, it faced no opposition in the United States Senate, and passed 415–14 in the United States House of Representatives.
Gathered in a house that Vice President Kamala Harris reminded spectators had been built by an enslaved workforce—and only “footsteps away” from where President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation— President Biden signed into law the bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday. Opal Lee, described as the “grandmother of the movement to make Juneteenth a federal holiday,” stood beside the President as he did so.
Decisively, Biden remarked that slavery was not only a “moral stain” on our country, but that the enslavement of black people was the nation’s “original sin.” Hence, “Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation, and promise of a greater morning to come.”
So, now my birthday is a national holiday. Coincidentally, my older son’s birthday is also a national holiday—the Fourth of July. Ever since he was little, I told him that he was lucky to have a birthday on such a holiday for he would always get his birthday off with pay. Ironically, President Biden’s declaration of Juneteenth comes too late for me to enjoy such a privilege, as I have been medically retired since 2005 as a congestive heart failure survivor. Oh well. As my mother used to tell me, “Timing is everything in life.”
Selected Bibliography
“Abolition of slavery announced in Texas on ‘Juneteenth,’” HISTORY, https://www.history. com/this-day-in-history/abolition-of-slaveryannounced-in-texas-juneteenth.
“The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth,” Smithsonian – The National Museum of African American History and Culture, https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historicallegacy-juneteenth
Sharon Pritt – Young, “Slavery Didn’t End on Juneteenth: What You Should Know About This Important Day,” npr, June 17, 2021, 6:00 a.m. ET, https://www.npr. org/2021/06/17/1007315228/juneteenth-whatis-origin-observation.
“Juneteenth: The Emancipation Proclamation – Freedom Realized and Delayed,” Prairie View A&M University, https://www.pvamu. edu/tiphc/research-projects/juneteenth-theemancipation-proclamation-freedom-realizedand-delayed/#:~:text=The%20news%20 was%20deliberately%20withheld,Texas%20 to%20enforce%20the%20proclamation.
“What the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t do,” npr, January 9, 2013, January 9, 2013, 12:00 p.m. ET, https://www. npr.org/2013/01/09/168957092/what-theemancipation-proclamation-didnt-do
Teresa Palomo Acosta, “Juneteenth,” Texas State Historical Association, Published 1952, Updated June 20, 2021, https://www. tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/juneteenth.
“The story behind Juneteenth and how it became a federal holiday,” NBC5 Dallas – Ft. Worth, Published June 16, 2023, Updated on June 18, 2023, 3:08 p.m., https://www.nbcdfw.com/ news/national-international/the-story-behindjuneteenth-and-how-it-became-a-federalholiday/3279526/
“Remarks by President Biden at Signing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act,” The White House, June 17, 2021, 3:51 p.m. EDT, https://www.whitehouse.gov/ briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/06/17/ remarks-by-president-biden-at-signing-of-thejuneteenth-national-independence-day-act/.
Safiya Charles, “How Stevie Wonder’s ‘Happy Birthday’ helped form MLK holiday,” The Detroit News, January 24, 2021, Published 5:27 p.m. CST, Updated 5:34 p.m. CST, https://www.detroitnews.com/in-depth/ entertainment/music/2021/01/24/how-steviewonders-happy-birthday-helped-create-kingholiday/6695494002/
Annie Karnie and Luke Broadwater, “Biden Signs Law Making Juneteenth a Federal Holiday,” The New York Times, June 17, 2021, Updated June 19, 2021, https://www.nytimes. com/2021/06/17/us/politics/juneteenthholiday-biden.html.
Alana Wise, “Juneteenth Is Now a Federal Holiday,” npr, Updated June 17, 2021, 4:28 p.m. ET, https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/ national-international/the-story-behindjuneteenth-and-how-it-became-a-federalholiday/3279526/.
