Juneteenth Program

Juneteenth is the newest federal holiday in the United States, yet many Americans do not understand what it celebrates.

"For African Americans, Juneteenth is Independence Day, now the United States of America's second Independence Day," says Dr. Michelle Collins-Sibley, professor of English and director of the Africana Studies Program at the University of Mount Union, who will discuss the national holiday at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 19 inside the Rodman Main Auditorium.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect in 1863, it could not be implemented in areas still under Confederate control. Consequently, enslaved people in the western most Confederate state of Texas were not freed until much later. On June 19, 1865, some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved people in the state had been freed by executive decree. These newly freed people christened the day "Juneteenth," or "Freedom Day."

Collins-Sibley, winner of the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission's Governor's Humanitarian Award, will discuss the history of Juneteenth and its significance during her appearance at RPL.

Registration is required to attend the event.

For more information, call 330-821-2665.