NAACP hosts 5th annual Juneteenth celebration on June 21 in Lebanon

The Lebanon County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will host its fifth annual Juneteenth/Freedom Day celebration on Saturday, June 21, in Monument Park, Lebanon.

The celebratory event is free and open to the public and will run from noon to 5 p.m. in the park at 8th and Lehman streets. The event will feature a special performance by a quartet of musicians in the Lebanon Valley College Valley Jazz Orchestra, a Dwennimmen African Dance Workshop, and a presentation to the winner of the branch’s 2025 Diversity Scholarship, along with food, games, vendors, and more.

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, was made a federal holiday in 2021 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The date has been celebrated by African Americans since the late 1800s.

The celebration marks the date, on June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans that the war had ended and they were free – more than two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox to end the Civil War. Granger’s announcement put into practice the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on Jan. 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln.

“Freedom is the inherent entitlement of every American, and it is with great pleasure that we extend a cordial invitation to all individuals,” Pastor Tony Fields, president of the Lebanon County NAACP, said in a release. “Freedom is something every American deserves.

“This is evident especially in the climate of uncertainty and unrest. As an organization, we are aware of these unsettling times. And that is why we are excited to invite all of you in the Lebanon Valley and beyond who share our country’s core values — like political equality, equal justice under law, transparent government, and all the rights that come with being a citizen, including voting and the freedom to shape your future.”