History Lesson Time: Did you know that when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1862, that slaves in Texas did not learn that they had been freed until June 19, 1865(!!)?? That day became known as Juneteenth, Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and/or Emancipation Day! Since then, across the country, Juneteenth has become a recognized day of the end of slavery. New York City just announced that its public schools will be closed on June 19 next year.
In this century, we’ve seen colleges change the names of buildings and programs that had been named in honor of controversial figures from the Civil War. Other colleges have acknowledged the use of slave labor on their campuses and profiting from the sale of its slaves. And Georgetown University established a foundation to address the legacy of the slaves which includes a fund so that descendants of the 272 slaves the school sold in 1832 who apply to Georgetown have the same college admission and acceptance considerations just like other children of current Georgetown employees have.
(Want to let people know you’re acknowledging Juneteenth Emancipation Day? You can wear the message, selecting a design like on this t-shirt seen on Amazon:
Learn about Georgetown’s Descendants’ Truth & Reconciliation Foundation and how the school is recognizing history: https://www.georgetown.edu/news/georgetown-continues-support-as-jesuits-descendants-of-enslaved-form-foundation/