Juneteenth Resource Guide

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Juneteenth Resource Guide

A Reckoning: Reclaiming the Past, Remembering Black Voices, Reshaping the Future

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is a day dedicated to commemorating the liberation of enslaved Black people from slavery in the United States. On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that enslaved people in the Confederate states were freed from slavery. However, it took two more years for the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas to learn about their freedom when Union General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 on June 19, 1865.

The celebration of Juneteenth has a long-standing history and has spread across the country as African Americans migrated. The day is often regarded as a second Independence Day and is celebrated with picnics and parades. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday. The Black Professionals Network held its first Juneteenth celebration at Northwestern University on June 15, 2022.

Juneteenth Annotated Resources 2025

National Museum of African American History & Culture - Juneteenth Digital Toolkit
This digital toolkit from the National Museum of African American History and Culture includes short films, a reading list for children, recipes, playlists, downloadable infographics, church fans, and activities, and much more. If you’re looking for a way to give back and learn more about Black Americans’ experiences with emancipation, follow the link at the bottom of the page and volunteer to transcribe the records of the Freedmen's Bureau online.

Juneteenth | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
An educational resource on Juneteenth and its history that features self guided courses, essays by historians, primary source documents and images, and a 30 minute short film.

Voices Remembering Slavery: Freed People Tell Their Stories | The Library of Congress
Library of Congress’ collection of 66 digitized recordings of interviews with formerly enslaved Black Americans narrating their experiences of enslavement and emancipation recorded between 1937 and 1975. See also: Faces and Voices from the Presentation, a digital exhibit that features photographs of several interviewees.

Not Your Momma's History: About Us
Not Your Momma’s History, founded by Cheyney McKnight, produces and consults on historical projects and programming about slavery and the African experience within 18th and 19th century America. McKnight’s historical interpretation work centers material culture, clothing, and primary sources, providing a special lens into the everyday lives of Black people of this time. Check out her Instagram page and YouTube channel.

Encountering Juneteenth: Cultivating Homeplace in the Face of Spectacular Violence Geniece Crawford Mondé
In this article, Geniece Crawford Mondé discusses her experiences with Juneteenth celebrations in the summer of 2020 as spaces for ‘(self)knowledge and restoration’ through themes of Black Joy, Black Pain, and Unapologetic Blackness. A valuable reminder of how important this holiday and Black spaces can be, especially in our current troubling times.

Book Gallery

Juneteenth rodeo - photos and essay by Sarah Bird ; afterword by Demetrius W. Pearson.

This book features beautiful photographs of Juneteenth Rodeos taken by Sarah Bird between 1977 and 1982 in East Texas. Included within are essays from the photographer on the story of the photos as well as an essay from Demetrius W. Pearson on the history of Black Rodeos in Texas. A fun look into one of the ways Juneteenth is celebrated in the state that started it all.

Perspectives

Three books on the ways that Black Americans self-emancipated that provide valuable balance to the narrative that slaves were freed by Abraham Lincoln and the emancipation proclamation.

I freed myself : African American self-emancipation in the Civil War era by David Williams

David Williams reframes the Civil War era by centering the agency of self-emancipated African Americans, whose strategic engagement with the Union war effort compelled a shift in federal policy and redefined the meaning of freedom beyond Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

The emancipation circuit : Black activism forging a culture of freedom by Thulani Davis.

Thulani Davis reconceptualizes Reconstruction by mapping the “emancipation circuits”—networks of political, social, and cultural mobilization forged by freedpeople—that laid the groundwork for the first mass Black movement for citizenship and civil rights in the United States.

Fugitive slaves and spaces of freedom in North America by edited by Damian Alan Pargas.

This volume reconceptualizes fugitive slave migration by mapping diverse “spaces of freedom” across the Americas, revealing how geography, legal status, and local resistance shaped the lived experiences and contested meanings of freedom for runaway slaves.

Juneteenth Rodeo:: by Srah Bird (Author), Demetrius Pearson (Afterword)

I Freed Myself: African American Self-Emancipation in the Civil War Era: by David Williams

The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom: by Thulani Davis

Fugitive Slaves and Spaces of Freedom in North America: by Damian Alan Pargas

About Yujay Masah

Yujay Masah is the Black Studies Librarian at Northwestern University Libraries. She holds an MA in Public History from Loyola University Chicago and an MLIS from Dominican University. Her professional and research interests include American history, Black history, collective memory, material and visual culture, archival practice, and digital humanities. Through her work in various libraries, museums, and archives over the years, she has developed a strong passion for providing access to information and facilitating research and learning.