One hundred and fifty-five years ago today, on June 19, 1865, federal orders were finally read in Galveston, Texas, which stated all enslaved people in Texas were free. This is despite the fact the war ended two months earlier (April 9, 1865) and the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect on January 1, 1863 (two years earlier), which freed all those enslaved in Confederate states.

To help children understand the importance of this date, we are sharing a few resources today:

– Colours of Us created a children’s book list back in 2016: https://coloursofus.com/10-childrens-books-celebrating-juneteenth/

– Teaching Tolerance offers some explanation and resources to help teachers discuss with students not only the importance of this event, but how this event could/should be taught: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/teaching-juneteenth

– Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library provides a book list for children, teens, and adults, which “celebrate the Black experience, foster understanding and empathy, and teach history and current events”: https://www.nypl.org/125/juneteenth2020?utm_campaign=NYPLSocialMedia&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

– WeAreTeachers also created a list of 17 resources that can be used as classroom tools to honor this date: https://www.weareteachers.com/teaching-juneteenth/

Please list additional resources in the comments as we encourage sharing information.