Juneteenth celebrations and observances were widespread across the United States on Wednesday, in its fourth year as a federally recognized holiday.
For more than 150 years, Juneteenth has held profound significance within many Black communities, commemorating the seminal moment in 1865 when the enslaved population in Galveston, Texas learned of their emancipation, a full two years following President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the cessation of the Civil War.
Here is a look at celebrations across the nation:
WASHINGTON, DC
Members of the Royal Court of National Miss Juneteenth Georgia Padgent pose for photographs on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Juneteenth People’s Parade on June 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Miss Juneteenth Georgia Nirvana Harrison, 16, marches past the Lincoln Memorial during the Juneteenth People’s Parade on June 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Members of the U.S. Colored Troops and Buffalo Soldiers, living historians, and re-enactors from Maryland, Georgia, Massachusetts, and other states prepare to march in the Juneteenth People’s Parade on June 19, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
2nd Lt. James Hayes Jr. of the 54th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops, Company K from Atlanta, Georgia, leads a group of fellow historic re-enactors during the Juneteenth People’s Parade on June 19, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Mae Green of Washington, left, helps Kim Boddie of Bowie, Md., look for the name of a friend’s relative inscribed on the African American Civil War Memorial during Juneteenth commemorations on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Associated Press reporter Darren Sands points to the name of his great-great-great-great grandfather Hewlett Sands listed with the names of other United States Colored Troops soldiers on the African American Civil War Memorial during Juneteenth commemorations on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
DALLAS, TX
Opal Lee, the Grandmother of Juneteenth, center, walks through Fair Park with her granddaughter Dione Sims, second from left, and hundreds of participants during 2024 Opal’s Walk for Freedom honoring the U.S. federal holiday, Juneteenth, Wednesday in Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)
MONTGOMERY, ALA
Gabriella Jackson, 7, and Erica Jackson,9, look for familiar names at the National Monument to Freedom dedication on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 in Montgomery, Ala. The monument is inscribed with 122,000 surnames that formerly enslaved people chose for themselves, as documented in the 1870 Census, after being emancipated at the Civil War’s end. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)
MANHATTAN BEACH, CA
Manhattan Beach city officials join residents and racial justice activists for the inaugural Juneteenth ceremony at Bruce’s Beach Park on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.(Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
CHICAGO, IL
Christi Love Harber raises her hand as she celebrates Juneteenth before a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs in Chicago on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Black Entrepreneurs members celebrate Juneteenth before a baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and the Chicago Cubs in Chicago on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
LOS ANGELES, CA
Victoria Barrera and her daughter, Joyce, left, have a picture taken to celebrate Juneteenth day, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at Leimert Park in Los Angeles. Many Americans are celebrating Juneteenth, marking the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Nift X Kila’ m perform at the Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival in Los Angeles on Juneteenth, a day celebrating the end of slavery, on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
People break into dance at the Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival in Los Angeles on Juneteenth, a day celebrating the end of slavery, on Monday, June 19, 2023. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Officials gather around Sika Dwimfo, better known as the “Godfather of Leimert Park,” sitting on wheelchair, center, during the neighborhood’s Juneteenth celebration, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, at Leimert Park in Los Angeles. The Leimert Park Village Merchants Association honored Dwimfo by unveiling the “Sika Dwimfo Corridor” during the Juneteenth celebration, recognizing his decades-long contributions to uplifting and sustaining the spirit of Leimert Park. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
POTOMAC, MD
Maryland Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (R) watches a children’s dance competition during the Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival Parade at Cabin John Regional Park on June 19, 2024, in Potomac, Maryland. Alsobrooks is running against Republican Senate candidate and former Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Maryland Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (C) walks in the Scotland Juneteenth Heritage Festival Parade at Cabin John Regional Park on June 19, 2024 in Potomac, Maryland. Alsobrooks is running against Republican Senate candidate and former Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ
New Jersey residents, many of whom have loved ones currently or formally in prison, watch as New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signs an executive order for a new clemency program that will pardon thousands of people as Newark and the nation celebrates Juneteenth on June 19, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. The clemency program will assist those who’ve been convicted of a crime that is no longer illegal or have been victims of domestic abuse. The program could have thousands of criminal records wiped clean. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy holds an executive order he signed for a new clemency program that will pardon thousands of people as Newark and the nation celebrates Juneteenth on June 19, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Marcia Saahir, whose husband was incarcerated for 40 years and died in jail, becomes emotional as she watches New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy sign an executive order for a new clemency program that will pardon thousands of people as Newark and the nation celebrates Juneteenth on June 19, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
