Friday is Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, and it holds special significance in Southeast Texas.

It was in Galveston on June 19, 1865, almost three years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, that the last enslaved people in our country learned they were free.

Located right in the middle of Houston's historic Third Ward, Emancipation Park was the first public park in Texas.