The Brookhaven Town Black History Commission will host the Ninth Annual Juneteenth “Freedom Day Celebration” at the historic Longwood Estate in Ridge on Saturday June 17 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.
The event, which is for Brookhaven Town residents, celebrates the 158th Anniversary of the end of slavery and includes food, games, music, trivia contests and activities for children. Tickets are limited. To RSVP, visit BrookhavenNY.gov/Juneteenth. For more information, call 631-451-2627.
On June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had officially ended and the enslaved were now free. This came two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Slavery was not abolished throughout the United States until the ratification of the 13th Constitutional Amendment on December 6, 1865.
