On June 19, 2024, NASA released a photo of Galveston, Texas, taken from the International Space Station.
Galveston, visible in the photo, is a long strip of land. It is bordered by Galveston Bay on the left and the Gulf of Mexico on the right.
This ties in with the historical significance of Juneteenth, a combination of "June" and "19th", which originated in Galveston on June 19, 1865.
On that day in Texas, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger read Order No. 3, which affirmed the end of slavery in 1863, but news of it didn't reach Galveston until 1865 when Union troops arrived.
Granger arrived in Texas with more than 2,000 federal soldiers to enforce this proclamation as local authorities had failed to do so for over two years.
Granger broadcast President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, officially declaring that enslaved people were to be considered employees, not property.
The celebration of June 19th eventually became annual Juneteenth celebrations.
Juneteenth marks the day when the enslaved people in Texas learned about the Emancipation Proclamation.
Despite the abolition of slavery, real and lasting change did not occur overnight, as some people around the country resisted and maintained barriers to true justice and equality.
Opal Lee, an activist whose family home was burned down by a white mob in 1939, worked to see Juneteenth become a federal holiday.
In 2024, she received keys to a new house built on the same plot of land where her family's home once stood.
The official Wall Raising Ceremony for her new home took place on March 21, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas, and was made possible through contributions from various organizations.
On Juneteenth 2024 Career Communications Group’s STEM City USA sponsored an event in downtown Baltimore.
Juneteenth commemorates the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas learned of their freedom. This view from the @Space_Station shows the city and Galveston Bay: https://t.co/nkvMO39NW5 pic.twitter.com/sqkcpBYVXr
— NASA (@NASA) June 19, 2024
