Alaskans celebrate Juneteenth as statewide holiday for the first time

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved Africans in Texas were finally told they were free, months after the Civil War had ended and two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The day is considered the end of slavery in the U.S.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 and a municipal holiday in Anchorage in 2023. Last week, Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed into law a bill sponsored by Senator Elvi-Gray Jackson, D-Anchorage, recognizing June 19 as an annually observed state holiday.

Festivities started over the weekend on the Anchorage Park Strip. On Monday, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce held a joint event with the Alaska Black Caucus which included guest speaker U.S. Representative Mary Peltola. Pelota spoke about the importance of including all voices in community decisions and government to insure a greater level of success.

“The importance of having diversity in all of the things that we are working on, all the boards, at all levels, whether it’s municipal, state, federal … diversity is where it’s at,” Peltola said.

Monday’s ceremony also included the presentation of Ebony Aurora Awards to a dozen notable Black Alaskans for contributions to their community. One of the recipients was retired Superior Court Judge Larry Card. Card, the first African American Superior Court Judge in the state, was appointed by Governor Walter Hickel in 1993.

“I think it’s appropriate to celebrate to remember our history so we don’t repeat our past,” Card said. “We ought to remember our history. It’s all of our history, it’s not just the Black community. It’s the entire community. We are all one. Turn us inside out we are all the same.”

The Juneteenth holiday will take place on Wednesday, June 19. A ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. that day at the Fine Arts Building on the University of Alaska Anchorage Campus.