A Juneteenth Reading List

Juneteenth, observed on June 19th each year, is an American holiday commemorating the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were told by Union soldiers that they were free—more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.Here is a small selection of newly published nonfiction books, from histories to essays to biographies, to read when observing, learning about, or reflecting on Juneteenth.