In 2021, President Joe Biden designated Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It marks the day the last enslaved African Americans were notified that they were free following the Civil War.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, delivering the news that the war, and slavery itself in the United States, had come to an end – two months after the surrender of Confederate forces, and nearly 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the South.

This milestone in America’s history came to be known as Juneteenth, combining “June” and “Nineteenth,” and is observed annually, providing a chance for the nation to celebrate and explore the meaning of freedom, then and now.

Horace M. Peterson III, the founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America, brought the Juneteenth celebration to Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine District in 1980. That same year, the Black Archives sponsored an exhibition of the original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

“He went to Texas,” says his daughter Makeda Peterson, “and he was able to experience the celebration there and had the vision to bring it back to Kansas City.”

She adds, “At the time, I was just a little kid, but I very much remember the sense of community and coming together.”

Horace died in 1992, but others continued his work supporting Black history and culture. Since 2012, Makeda has served as the acting program director of Juneteenth KC, expanding the celebration to events throughout the month.

In recent years, organizers revived the annual parade and added a Miss Juneteenth KC pageant. With the designation of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, the momentum continues to grow, Makeda says, including “more national acceptance and acknowledgment of the African American story.”

In commemoration of the holiday, the Library offers book recommendations, films, and other resources that highlight the history of Black experiences in America.

*All Library locations will be closed on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in observance of Juneteenth.

Reading & Topic Lists

This collection of books explores the impact of slavery and the legacy and cultural significance of Juneteenth.

Freedom and independence did not begin for everyone on July 4, 1776 in the United States. For those enslaved people of the Africa diaspora freedom would come on June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. That day is celebrated as Juneteenth, or Freedom Day.

There is a long history of Black women’s activism, and the intersection with the struggles for abolition, suffrage, economic freedom, and civil rights. Learn about how far Black women’s activism and come with these items from the Library.

Past Programs

My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future

Alice Randall was the first Black woman to cowrite a number 1 country hit single, Trisha Yearwood’s “XXX’s and OOO’s.” Randall is also a bestselling novelist, award-winning songwriter, and an educator. In May 2024, she discussed her newest book My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music’s Black Past, Present, and Future.

Related reading list »

Watch

Kansas City's Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home
Not far from 18th and Vine streets, some of the most notable chapters in Kansas City’s Black history sprang from a single city block on Montgall Avenue. In this June 2023 program, Margie Carr recalls this enclave and the influencers who lived there in the first half of the 20th century in a discussion of her new book Kansas City's Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home.

Watch

On Juneteenth
In June 2021, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed joined the Library for a virtual discussion of her book On Juneteenth, in which she weaves American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir into a series of essays on our “long road” to the effective end of slavery on June 19, 1865.

Watch

Movies

Watch a selection of cinema celebrating Juneteenth - documentaries, dramas, comedies, and more - streamed to your computer or mobile device using the Library's free digital services such as Kanopy.

Juneteenth films on Kanopy

Additional Resources

The Kansas City Black History website features online biographies, essays, educational resources, and additional content that highlights the legacies and accomplishments of notable African Americans who blazed trails, broke barriers, and shaped our city’s history.

Black Thought and Culture is a digital collection of approximately 100,000 pages of non-fiction writings by major American Black leaders—teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, war veterans, entertainers, and other figures—covering 250 years of history. In addition to the most familiar works, the resource presents a great deal of previously inaccessible material, including letters, speeches, prefatory essays, political leaflets, interviews, periodicals, and trial transcripts. The ideas of over 1,000 authors present an evolving and complex view of what it is to be Black in America. Library card required to access from home. (Need one? Get a card immediately!)