Juneteenth is not an actually word, but a portmanteau – the combination of two words to make a new one. June and nineteenth combine in celebration of June 19, 1865, the date Texas abolished slavery. On the heels of the official announcement in Galveston by Union General Gordon Granger two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was supposed to go into effect, African-Americans joyously celebrated in the streets. Official celebrations began the following year in Texas and quickly... More >>>