Here’s a look at Juneteenth, also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, by the numbers:
155 – Years since Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger (Union Army) first read the proclamation, General Orders, No. 3, in Galveston, Texas, notifying slaves of their emancipation, on June 19, 1865.
15 – States where it was legal to have slaves before the Civil War: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
148 years – Age of the oldest Juneteenth celebration in the world, in Emancipation Park in Houston.
8 – Consecutive years during which Barack Obama, during his presidency, issued a statement to mark Juneteenth: 2009-2016.
June 19, 2016 – Statement by Barack Obama, the first African-American US president, on the Observance of Juneteenth.
