June 19, 2026 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Free Admission until 2:00 PM

 

On Friday, June 19, the Museum will be open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with free admission available until 2:00 PM. The day will be filled with inspiring programming, live music, cultural performances, family-friendly activities, and community resources honoring this important national holiday. Together, we celebrate history and the ongoing work of positive social change.

This year’s celebration will also spotlight health equity, recognizing the vital connection between civil rights and access to healthy, thriving communities. Guests can engage in meaningful conversations, wellness-focused activities, and valuable resources designed to promote health for all.

Health Equity Partners

• Vitalant
• Baptist

You can also see the new Legacy Experience exhibits, highlighting civil rights history from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968 to the present day. Housed in the Museum’s Legacy Building, the expanded exhibitions illuminate the movement’s evolution over the past five decades, examining pivotal moments, strategies, and grassroots organizing that followed 1968 and continue to shape struggles for justice today.

The History of Juneteenth

Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union soldier Major General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with the news that the Civil War had ended and the enslaved were now free: an announcement that came more than two and a half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, leaving Black Texans denied their freedom since January 1, 1863.