Juneteenth and the Origins of Emancipation Park

On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, informing the population in Texas that all enslaved people are now free. Seven years later, the Rev. Jack Yates, along with other formerly enslaved people, raised funds to purchase a plot of land where Freedom Day, now called Juneteenth, could be celebrated in Houston. Yates’ great-granddaughter, Jacqueline Whiting Bostic, shares the story of Rev. Yates and the creation of Emancipation Park, where Juneteenth celebrations continue more than 150 years later.