A New Day Begun
The UConn Library is proud to join the State of Connecticut and the nation in recognizing Juneteenth, a holiday celebrated in African American communities for over 150 years. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, and on May 5, 2022, lawmakers in the State of Connecticut voted to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.
In this guide, you'll find recommendations for ways you can celebrate Juneteenth, honor the memories of those who endured conditions of enslavement, and support Black communities in Connecticut.
For questions about this guide or to suggest content, please contact:
- Stephanie Birch, Africana & African Studies Librarian
- Fyansia Nsilo-Swai, Communication, Sociology, Archaeology, & Anthropology Librarian
June 19, 1865
Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and took effect in 1863, liberation from enslavement was not implemented in places under Confederate control until the passage of the 13th Amendment. Enslaved people in Confederate-controlled regions waited up to two more years for liberation.
"Freedom finally came on June 19th, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. This came to be known as "Juneteenth," by newly freed people in Texas." -- National Museum of African American History and Culture
Read more: UConn Historian, Dr. Manisha Sinha, on the history of Juneteenth
The Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing", by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson.
Ways to Celebrate
Share a Meal
Cooking together and sharing meals are an important part of any Juneteenth celebration. The UConn Library maintains a selection of print and eBooks on African American culinary history and foodways. This is an excellent place to start learning about the significance of Black culinary traditions in American society.
- Black food: stories, art, & recipes from across the African diaspora by Bryant Terry (2021). Print.
- Building houses out of chicken legs: Black women, food, and power by Psyche Williams-Forson (2006). Print.
- High on the hog: a culinary journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris (2011). Print & eBook.
- Jubilee: recipes from two centuries of African American cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin (2019). eBook.
- Recipes for respect: African American meals and meaning by Rafia Zafar (2019). eBook.
- Soul food: the surprising story of an American cuisine one plate at a time by Adrian Miller (2013). eBook.
- Vibration Cooking or, The Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl by Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor (2011). eBook.
Online Resources:
- New York Times article about Emily Meggett, the keeper of centuries-old Gullah Geechee culinary traditions in the Carolinas -- Read it online
- Afroculinaria -- food blog by author Michael Twitty exploring culinary traditions of Africa, African America and the African Diaspora
- Fire & Freedom: Food and Enslavement in Early America -- Virtual exhibition by the National Library of Medicine
Explore the history of barbeque with Black culinary historian, Michael Twitty, author of The Cooking Gene: A Journal through African American Culinary History in the Old South.
Support Black-Owned Businesses
In the years following emancipation, known as Reconstruction (1865-1877), newly freed people established self-sustaining communities. They built neighborhoods, founded churches and schools, and formed social clubs. They also began to accumulate economic power by becoming business owners. Celebrate and honor the resilience of the Black entrepreneurial spirit by supporting local Black-owned businesses. By doing so, you can challenge structural racism and support economic and social equity in your community.
To find local Black-owned businesses in your area, visit ShopBlackCT – CT’s Black-Owned Business Guide
Learn Something New
Set aside time and create the intention to learn about the histories of Juneteenth and Black people in America and Connecticut. There are many ways to learn -- books, articles, films, podcasts, heritage tours, and more.
Juneteenth & Emancipation Resource List
- Envisioning emancipation: Black Americans and the end of slavery by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer (2013). Print.
- Juneteenth: A Novel by Ralph Ellison (1999). Print
- Juneteenth: the story behind the celebration by Edward T. Cotham (2021). Print.
- Juneteenth and Women's History by New York Historical Society (June 2020). Read online.
- Laws of slavery in Texas historical documents and essays by multiple authors (2010). eBook.
- On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed (2021). Print.
Books for Kids
- All different now: Juneteenth, the first day of freedom by Angela Johnson and Earl B. Lewis (2014). Print. (children's book).
- Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper (2015). Print.
Films
- Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom - A Documentary by Our Daily Bread. Watch for free on YouTube.
Black History in the U.S.
- 1619 by Nikole Hannah Jones (2020). Podcast.
- 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones (2021). Print and eBook.
- Abolitionist Imagination by Andrew Delbanco, Manisha Sinha, Darryl Pickney, and Wilfred McClay (2012). eBook.
- Before the Mayflower: a history of the Negro in America, 1619-1964 by Lerone Bennett Jr. (1966). Print.
- Black women's history of the United States by Daina Ramsey Berry and Kali N. Gross (2020). eBook.
- Color of law: a forgotten history of how our government segregated America by Richard Rothstein (2017). Print.
- Four hundred souls: a community history of African America, 1619-2019 by eds. Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (2021). eBook.
- Stony the road: Reconstruction, white supremacy, and the rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr. (2019). Print.
Books for Kids
- 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, and Nikkolas Smith (2021). Print.
- Stamped (for kids): racism, antiracism, and you by Sonja Cherry-Paul, Rachelle Baker, Jason Reynolds, and Ibram X. Kendi (2021). Print.
Films
- 13th (2016) streaming on Netflix
- Beloved (1998) streaming on Amazon Prime and on DVD at UConn Library
- Daughters of the Dust (1991) on DVD at UConn Library
- Sankofa (1993) streaming on Netflix and on DVD at UConn Library
- Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) on DVD at UConn Library
Black History in Connecticut
- African American Connecticut explored by Elizabeth J. Normen and Katherine B. Kimball (2013). Print and eBook.
- African American experience in nineteenth-century Connecticut: benevolence and bitterness by Theresa Vara-Dannen (2014). eBook.
- Amistad revolt: struggle for freedom by John Warner Barber and Arthur Abraham (1993?). Print.
- Black roots in southeastern Connecticut, 1650-1900 by Barbara W. Brown and James M. Rose (1980). Print.
- Century in captivity: the life and trials of Prince Mortimer, a Connecticut slave by Denis R. Caron (2006). Print.
- Colored boy by Olin Gaines, Jr. (2017). Print.
- Connecticut's African American soldiers in the Civil War, 1861-1865: research report by Diana Ross McCain and Connecticut Historical Commission (2000). Online.
- Connecticut's Black soldiers, 1775-1783 by David O. White (1973). Print.
- Fortune's bones: the manumission requiem by Marilyn Nelson (2004). Print.
- Hopes and expectations: the origins of the Black middle class in Hartford by Barbara Beeching (2017). Print.
- Life of James Mars: a slave born and sold in Connecticut by James Mars (2000). eBook.
- Life of William Grimes: the runaway slave: brought down to the present time by William Grimes (2000). eBook.
- Slaves of central Fairfield County, Connecticut by Daniel Cruson (2007). Print.
- Tapestry, a living history of the Black family in southeastern Connecticut by James M. Rose and Barbara W. Brown (1979). Print.
- Uncle Tom's cabin or, Life among the lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe (2009). eBook.
- Venture Smith and the business of slavery and freedom by eds. James Brewer Stewart and James O. Horton (2010). eBook.
Films
- African Americans in Connecticut: the Colonial era to the Civil War (1998) on DVD at UConn Library.
- Amistad (1999) on DVD at UConn Library.
- Glory (1989) on DVD at UConn Library.
Heritage Tours
Be in Community
More than anything, Juneteenth is about being in community. Across the US and throughout the state of Connecticut, communities will gather during the month of June to honor the millions of enslaved children, women, and men. It is a day of memorial for those who died dreaming of liberation for themselves and future generations. It is a day of celebration for those who lived to see emancipation. It is a day of hope for Black communities still fighting for liberation.
Find Juneteenth & Black cultural events near you:
BLOOMFIELD / WINDSOR
- June 18: Juneteenth Parade at Blue Hills Fire Dept. | 11am
- June 19: Juneteenth Community Cookout at Blue Hills Fire Dept. | 2pm - 6pm
BRIDEGPORT
- June 10: Juneteenth Film Series Celebration at Bijou Theatre CT | 8pm
- June 15: Lecture: History of Juneteenth with Karima A. Robinson at Bridgeport Public Library (Main Branch) | 6:30pm
DANBURY
- June 19: Juneteenth ‘Independence Day’ Celebration at Midtown Campus of Western Connecticut State University | 12pm – 5pm – Register for free!
DARIEN
- June 15: Juneteenth Celebration with the Ubuntu Storytellers, Darien Library | 7pm – 8pm
EAST HARTFORD
- June 18: East Hartford Juneteenth Celebration at East Hartford Town Green | 11am - 3pm
ENFIELD
- June 19: Juneteenth Sunday Worship at United Church of Christ | 10am
- June 19: Bells for Juneteenth at United Church of Christ | 12pm
- June 19: Juneteenth Festival at Enfield Town Hall Green | 11am - 6pm
FARMINGTON
- June 25: Juneteenth at Hill-Stead at Hill-Stead Museum | 10am - 4pm
HAMDEN
- June 18: Juneteenth Worship Service at Mill Rock Park | 12;m - 3pm
HARTFORD
- June 11: Juneteenth Family Day at Burr Mall | 12pm - 4pm
- June 18: Juneteenth Community Celebration at Wilson-Gray YMCA | 1pm - 6:30pm
- June 19: Juneteenth in the Park at Bushnell Park | 1pm - 6pm
HEBRON
- June 18: Juneteenth Celebration at Burnt Hill Park | 11am - 2pm
NEW BRITAIN
- June 18: Juneteenth 2022 at New Britain Museum of American Art | 11am - 4pm
NEW HAVEN
- June 19: Juneteenth Witness Stones Memorial at New Haven Museum at Pardee Morris House | 12pm - 2:30pm
NEW LONDON
- June 11: Juneteenth 2022 Festival at Hempsted House | 7am - 12pm
NORWALK
- June 18: Juneteenth: A Summer Celebration of Culture at Norwalk Historic Green | 4pm - 8pm
MANSFIELD
- June 13: Witness Stone Unveiling at Mansfield Public Library | 5pm
MILFORD
- June 18: Milford Juneteenth Celebration at Milford Green Gazebo | 10am - 4pm
OLD LYME
- June 18: Juneteenth Celebration: Jazz & Poetry Event at Florence Griswold Museum | 2pm - 4pm
RIDGEFIELD
- June 19: “Unheard Voices” by Judy Tate and the American Slavery Project at Ridgefield Library | 4pm
STAMFORD
- June 19: 2022 Juneteenth Freedom Day at Jackie Robinson Park | 1pm – 5pm
WASHINGTON
- June 14: Juneteenth in Poetry at Gunn Memorial Library | 5pm
WEST HARTFORD
- June 19: West Hartford CommUnity Juneteenth Celebration 2022 at Blue Back Square | 12pm
WEST HAVEN
- June 18: West Haven Juneteenth Celebration at Brent Watt Park | 11am - 2pm
WINSTED
- June 19: Juneteenth Band Concert at Winchester Soldiers’ Monument | 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Credits:
Photograph: Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900 held in "East Woods" on East 24th Street in Austin. Credit: Austin History Center.