National Geographic | Celebrating Juneteenth

National Geographic

JUNETEENTH:
CELEBRATING FREEDOM

To mark the newest federal holiday, we bring you stories about freedom: a new tool to help Black Americans find their roots; the little-known story of how the Civil War ended; daring acts of rebellion; the forgotten first emancipation proclamation; and more.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SAKKE OVERLUND VIA THE BROOKS FAMILY

Black Americans looking for their roots usually hit the '1870 wall.' This man broke it.

Newly available records from the National Archives' Freedman's Bureau provide earlier and richer data about the American experience, often predating the "1870 wall" that marked the first appearance of many Black people by name on a U.S. census. This is the remarkable story of how one man broke that wall—and traced his ancestors all the way back to Africa.

NEWLY AVAILABLE DATA

PHOTOGRAPH BY CALLAGHAN O'HARE, REUTERS

How Juneteenth became America's second Independence Day

Observed on June 19, the nation's newest federal holiday commemorates the end of slavery in Texas—a full two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Here's how it came to be celebrated nationwide.

PHOTOGRAPH BY THE SMITHSONIAN

This is the Confederate 'flag' no one talks about anymore

"It is sufficiently humiliating to have had to carry it and exhibit it," fumed the Confederate officer who wielded the flag of truce—a white dish towel—at Appomattox Courthouse.

SEE IT ON DISPLAY

LORRAINE GENDRON, DESTREHAN PLANTATION

How two centuries of slave revolts shaped American history

The daring and desperate acts of rebellion from New York to the Caribbean shattered contemporary stereotypes of enslaved peoples and challenged the institution of slavery itself.

DARING AND DOOMED

GRANGER

The forgotten first emancipation proclamation wasn't issued by Lincoln

In 1775, Americans responded to the call for liberty, taking up arms against their oppressors and fighting the first major battles of the Revolution south of New York. Hundreds of these soldiers, however, were Black men fighting for King George III—in exchange for their freedom.

THE FORGOTTEN STORY

THE STORY OF A STOLEN BEACH

PHOTOGRAPH VIA LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, CHARLES E. YOUNG RESEARCH LIBRARY, UCLA

In 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce purchased this beach as a haven for Black Americans barred from swimming at or enjoying seashores designed for whites only. As Americans head to sandy shores this summer, the story of Bruce's Beach shines a light on a troubling time in American history, when the government illegally seized properties owned by people of color.

A FAMILIAR STORY

The legacy of segregation:

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New digital tools are helping travelers avoid discrimination

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Plessy v. Ferguson aimed to end segregation—but codified it instead

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Public swimming pools are still haunted by segregation's legacy

JUNETEENTH ... IN MEXICO?

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUJÁN AGUSTI

It may seem unlikely that this holiday would be honored in a small village at the base of the Sierra Madre range, but Nacimiento de los Negros—meaning "Birth of the Blacks"—became a haven for the Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles who escaped the brutality of slavery via the southern Underground Railroad.

KEEPING THEIR HISTORY ALIVE

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