Governor McCrory Commemorates 150th Anniversary Of Juneteenth Celebration | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C. — Governor Pat McCrory issued the following statement recognizing the 150th anniversary of the "Juneteenth" holiday, which marks the end of slavery in the United States.

    "Juneteenth is not only about freedom; it's also about the sacrifice citizens of all races and creeds made to end slavery in the Land of the Free," Governor McCrory said. "To honor those sacrifices, we must teach our children that liberty is never a given, but a right that must always be nurtured and protected."

    June 19, 1865 was the day Union Army General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas, and read aloud General Order No. 3 which informed the people of Texas that by order of the President of the United States, all slaves were free.

    Spontaneous celebrations broke out in Galveston and spread throughout Texas and the Southwest, thus beginning the holiday tradition of Juneteenth.

    Texas is regarded as the last state to be officially informed that slavery was abolished by President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•     govpress@nc.gov