Q. I know Juneteenth started in Texas. Is it celebrated in other states?
A. Let’s start by turning to a 1989 publication, “Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.” Here’s a passage from that source: “The celebration of June 19 as emancipation day spread to the neighboring states of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, and later to California as black Texans migrated west. It has appeared occasionally in Alabama and Florida, also as a result of migration.
“Large celebrations began in 1866 and continued to be held regularly into the early 20th century. Observations of Juneteenth declined in the 1940s during World War II but revived with 70,000 black people on the Texas State Fair grounds at Dallas in 1950.
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