On June 19, 2022, the Lebanon Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission hosted the City's inaugural Juneteenth celebration in Downtown Lebanon. The program included musical performances, a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, and a presentation about formerly enslaved people who resided in Lebanon and the abolitionist movement in our community. A recording of the celebration has been posted for those who were unable to attend or who would like to revisit the moment.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. Although President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863, it took more than two years for the institution of slavery to end in Texas. On June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in that state. President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independent Day Act into Law on June 17, 2021.
For more information about the Lebanon Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission, please visit LebanonNH.gov/DEI.