"Juneteenth" (19 June 1865): Freedom for African-Americans

On this date in 1865, at the end of the Civil War, Union troops in Texas informed enslaved African-American that they were henceforth free. The date has become a holiday (marked today in 36 US states) celebrating freedom for African-Americans.

Ralph Ellison entitled his long-awaited novel—pubished only posthumously,years after his celebrated Invisible Man—Juneteenth (1999).

Celebrations are often an occasion to honor local community members. In Springfield this year,

The father of murder victim Mario Hornsby Junior, and the mother of the boy who had taken his own life as victim of bullying, were honored for trying to improve conditions that had led to their personal losses.