Philadelphia's Mayor Kenney has declared Friday, June 19, 2020 a City holiday in recognition of Juneteenth!

Juneteenth is the most popular annual celebration of Emancipation, and commemorates June 19, 1865, the date when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas to ensure that slaves were freed in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Lincoln two years earlier. These were the last individuals freed after the Civil War.

Here are three picture ebooks through our Digital Media collections that explore this important holiday and that are perfect to share with your little ones:

Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper
available through Overdrive
Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history. The day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph, as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.

All Different Now: Juneteenth the First Day of Freedom written by Angela Johnson; illustrated by E. B. Lewis
available through Overdrive
Told through the eyes of one little girl is the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms.
 

Juneteenth written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson; illustrated by Drew Nelson
available through Hoopla
June 19th, 1865, began as another hot day in Texas. African American slaves worked in fields, in barns, and in the homes of the white people who owned them. Then a message arrived. Freedom! Slavery had ended! The Civil War had actually ended in April. It took two months for word to reach Texas. Still the joy of that amazing day has never been forgotten. Every year, people all over the United States come together on June 19th to celebrate the end of slavery.
 

Join in the celebration of Juneteenth, a day to remember and honor freedom!