Trending: ‘Juneteenth’

Juneteenth spiked in lookups on June 17th, 2021, two days before it itself occurred, as President Biden announced that the date would henceforth be a national holiday.

President Biden on Thursday signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, the day after the House voted overwhelmingly to enshrine June 19 as the national day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.
— The New York Times, 17 Jun. 2021

We define Juneteenth as “June 19 celebrated especially in Texas to commemorate the belated announcement there of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.” The word, a blend of June and nineteenth, has been in written use since at least 1890, and is thought to have existed in spoken form prior to that.

While the day has only become a federal holiday this year, Juneteenth has long been celebrated in many parts of the United States. We have considerable written evidence of the word, used in reference to large-scale celebrations, in consistent use for well over a hundred years.

The Juneteenth is over, and every incoming train brings in a crowd of tired and weary.
— The Freeman (Indianapolis, IN), 26 Jun. 1909

As in past years the celebration took on the air of a jubilee. Thirteen carloads left Beaumont yesterday to spend the day at Benham. Other trains brought in large crowds from surrounding towns, however, and the crowd here was as big as on any previous “Juneteenth.”
— The Chicago Defender, 1 Jul. 1916

The Golden West Elks Club, No. 36, in conjunction with the new Florence Mills theater, will hold a popularity contest to select a girl who will be queen of the annual Juneteenth picnic.
— Los Angeles Sentinel, 4 Jun. 1936

Towles is booked June 10 for the graduation of the 789th Training Squadron … Also will be back in Oklahoma City for Juneteenth Day celebration, June 19, at Oklahoma City Municipal auditorium.
— Pittsburgh Courier, 12 Jun. 1943