Tuesday Americans across the country celebrated Juneteenth.
The holiday is the oldest known U.S. celebration of the end of slavery.
Those who observe the holiday mark the anniversary with parties, cookouts, and gatherings with family and friends.
Port Discovery Children’s Museum held a celebration Tuesday. Participants could learn how to quilt, practice their weaving techniques, and play the game ‘Who Am I’ by matching historical African American figures to their respective descriptions.
"Juneteenth is the celebration of the freeing of the slaves by legislation. However, that is not really covered as well in textbooks as it should be. So we do exploration here at port discovery about it to show that this is such an important date to the history of the United States,” said Visual Art Specialist Janet Turner.
It’s been 153 years since Major General Gordon Granger of the Union Army first read the proclamation notifying more than 3 million slaves of their emancipation.
