The Juneteenth Index

Many people picnic on Juneteenth. Above are doll crafts you can make for a fun picnic:
melon ball salad, a lined picnic basket, hot dogs and a doll sized hammock!

       Juneteenth (Juneteenth National Independence Day and historically known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of African-American slaves.

• What is Juneteenth?
• Juneteenth: a Story and a Song
• History of Juneteenth
• The celebration of the first federally observed Juneteenth

       It is also often observed for celebrating African-American culture. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it has been celebrated annually on June 19th in various parts of the United States since 1865. The day was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. Juneteenth's commemoration is on the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865, announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas, which was the last state of the Confederacy with institutional slavery. 

• Biden signs Juneteenth bill, creating a new federal holiday: video and bill signed
• Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution and here
• Emancipation Proclamation - issued on January 1, 1863, had officially outlawed slavery in Texas and in all of the other states of the original Confederacy. Enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied upon the advance of Union troops.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day was adopted in 1983. 
• The final release of slaves by the Indian Territories, Choctaw, in 1866 (pdf.)

Formal Recognition: Beginning with Texas by proclamation in 1938, and by legislation in 1979, 49 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have formally recognized the holiday in various ways.  

• Texas by proclamation in 1938 
• Declaration of Juneteenth Holiday Sparks Scramble in States
• Juneteenth: The story behind the 155-year-old holiday that commemorates the end of slavery

The Musical Celebrations of Juneteenth:

• "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"  (pdf.) - by the National Registry: 2002 and listen here
• "Lift Every Voice and Sing" - Why The Black National Anthem Is Lifting Every Voice To Sing and the TEDx Talk here and A Cappella sung by students at Berklee College of Music

Doll Crafts for Celebrating Juneteenth:

1. How to Recycle a Hammock For a Doll
2. Craft an easy melon ball salad for your dolls...
3. How to Sew a Liner For A Picnic Basket
4. Doll camp food is also good for a picnic in the park!
   
5. Learn to sculpt a newspaper African folk doll...

African-American Writers, Dancers, Poets and Businessmen:

• Ralph Ellison at WorldCat Identities and Novel
• Maya Angelou - her legacy continues on...
• Richard Henry Boyd with founded the National Negro Doll Company
• How Misty Copeland Became a Ballerina

Foods and Festivals of African American Peoples: Some Juneteenth celebrations also include rodeos, street fairs, cookouts, family reunions, park parties, historical reenactments, and Miss Juneteenth contests.

• How to celebrate Juneteenth
• The best foods to celebrate Juneteenth with family and friends

Artifacts For Integrating History, Literature and doll play:

• See Learning About History With The Addy Walker Doll - Artifacts concerning African American history during and after The Civil War
• See Also Learning History With Melody - Artifacts concerning The Civil Rights Movement
• The Adentures of Keisha Vance - an African American doll from the Magic Attic Collections
  
• Topsy-Turvy Dolls - The toys made by former African and Islander slaves...
• Afrocentric Shindana Dolls - made in South Central Los Angeles
• A Doll From The U.S. Virgin Islands
• "Adama" a doll representing Nigeria by Avon.
• A black velvet rag doll by Norah Wellings
• Ethnic and Diverse Dolls: Mattel's Fashionista Dolls - 11 reviewed

The Indigenous Tribes Of Africa, Their Diversity and Art, Then and Now: Africa, the homeland of many former slaves. Learn about the tribes of the past and how they survive in modern Africa today.

• The People of The Veil
• The Bakongo
• The Masai
• The People of The Fog
• The Bushmen
• African Artists