Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Black Independence Day, Emancipation Day, or Jubilee Day, is a day that recognizes and celebrates the commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States and it takes place every year on June 19th. This is one of the oldest nationally celebrated commemorations on the emancipation of slaves, dating back to June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers led by Major Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the war was over and that slavery was abolished. Even though Juneteenth has been celebrated in various ways and places across the U.S. for over a century, it wasn’t formally recognized as a federal holiday until President Biden signed Public Law 117-17, the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, on June 17th, 2021 (Congress.gov).
The holiday of Juneteenth has a rich history and a wide range of celebratory traditions, evolving over time to also celebrate African American culture achievements, as well as a time for reflection and self-assessment. “Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long overdue. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today” (JUNETEENTH.com).
Juneteenth is also a reminder that despite all the progress we’ve made as a country, there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of equality and safety. The IU East Campus Library has many resources devoted to Black culture and history that can provide further context to this important holiday, to American history, and to our current society.
For general history, we have African-American History Online, African American Communities, Black Studies in Video, and Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture and Law. All these databases consist of primary and secondary source materials, including newspapers, pamphlets, official records, oral histories, documentaries, correspondences, maps, and more.
We also have databases that focus more on African American art and culture, such as African American Poetry (1750-1900) and Black Thought and Culture. For more primary resources and first-hand accounts, ProQuest’s News and Newspaper collection, which searches historical newspapers such as The New York Times, The Detroit Free Press, The Indianapolis Star, The Baltimore Afro-American, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune and more, is a great way to locate headline news, cultural insight, and obituaries.
Additionally, we have many databases focused on social justice issues, including protests, radical movements, or labor organizing. These databases mainly consist of primary resources, such as official documents, reports, images, and transcripts. Since we have quite a few of them, we’ll list them with bullet points:
- Black Economic Empowerment: the National Negro Business League
- American Civil Liberties Union Papers (ACLU)
- Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle, 1970-1980
- Political Extremism & Radicalism, 20th Century Part 1 & 2
- Race Relations in America: Surveys and Papers from the Amistad Research Center, 1943-1970
- Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice
- “We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death:” Freedom Riders in the South, 1961
- Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil rights Activist, Political Activist, and Woman
- Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement
All the databases mentioned here can also be found in the Campus Library’s A-Z Resource List, in alphabetical order. If you need assistance in researching the history and celebration of Juneteenth, or any help in accessing any of the databases, Ask Us! at iueref@iue.edu or click here
Sources Cited:
JUNETEENTH.com. (2021). https://www.juneteenth.com/