Juneteenth Celebration
Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th each year, marks our country’s second independence day. Although Juneteenth has long been celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans. Annually, starting in June 2021, Ohio University celebrates this occasion with programming and activities.
Saturday, June 22, 2024 - Schedule of Events
Black History Tour
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Meet at Baker Center, 4th Floor
Start your Juneteenth celebration with a Black History Tour of Athens. During this event, participants will walk around Athens and learn about the African American history that is part of our community to commemorate Juneteenth.
-TBD
Juneteenth Festival
Time: 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Location: College Green at Ohio University
The Juneteenth Festival will include music, food and merchandise vendors, and activities for children. Feel free to bring lawn chairs and blankets, water, and sunscreen, so you can hang out and enjoy the live music!
Juneteenth Festival Vendor and Tabling Request Forms
Community organizations and vendors (food and other items) are invited to table and offer services during the Juneteenth Festival. Below are links to vendor and tabling forms for businesses and organizations to request to participate in the Juneteenth Festival being held on Saturday, June 22nd, 2024 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on College Green at Ohio University.
Vendor and tabling registration forms are due by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 29th, 2024.
For more information concerning participation, please email diversityinclusion@ohio.edu.
Volunteers Needed!
If you would like to volunteer during the 2024 Juneteenth Festival, please register:
About Juneteenth
On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.
But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas.
Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture. (2020). Historic Legacy of Juneteenth. Retrieved online.
Learn more about the Historic Legacy of Juneteeth by visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture website.
