2026 Celebrates Juneteenth
UMB Celebrates Juneteenth
Dear UMB Community,
This month marks the sixth year that the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) will be celebrating and honoring Juneteenth as an observed holiday.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and Major Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 announcing that enslaved people in Texas were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect Jan. 1, 1863.
Also known as Freedom Day or Black Independence Day, Juneteenth marks a pivotal moment in the long struggle from emancipation to full citizenship during Reconstruction and preceded the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which formally abolished slavery across the United States on Dec. 6, 1865.
This holiday is important in American history because it highlights and represents the struggle for freedom and recognition for African Americans who were not truly emancipated or integrated into the American dream of freedom. Its observance is a reminder of the importance of the ongoing struggles toward a truly free and democratic society and the urgency of promoting and protecting human rights and justice now and for the future.
Now 99, Opal Lee is the oldest living board member of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, a national movement to have Juneteenth declared a national holiday. At 90 years old, she started her walking campaign from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to bring awareness to the need for celebrating Juneteenth nationally.
She walked 2½ miles in cities across the country to represent the 2½ years it took after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation for enforcement to reach Texas to free the enslaved. In 2019, she launched an online petition campaign that garnered over 1.6 million signatures to continue the crusade for holiday observance.
Ms. Lee, who is known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” was present on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act bill that established June 19 or “Juneteenth” as a federal holiday. Ms. Lee said on that day, “Now we can celebrate freedom from the 19th of June to the Fourth of July!”
At UMB, we value equity, justice, respect, and integrity and continue to strive to live out these core values to foster greater inclusion. Let us continue to work toward a more just and inclusive UMB community and society at large.
In collaboration,
Diane Forbes Berthoud, PhD, MA
Chief Inclusive Excellence and Institutional Effectiveness Officer and Vice President
Professor, School of Graduate Studies