See more information on Skokie's Juneteenth celebration.
On June 19, 1865, two months after the surrender of the Confederacy and two-and-a-half years after Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, Union soldiers landed in Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Later, the celebration of June 19 was coined "Juneteenth" and grew over the decades, with Texas passing a bill in 1980 marking Juneteenth as America's first state-recognized emancipation celebration.
This year, Skokie joins the 157-year-old holiday celebrating the emancipation of African Americans from enslavement.
Join the celebration at the following Skokie Juneteenth events on the Skokie Village Green (June 17) and Devonshire Park and Sketchbook Brewing Company (June 18):
