{"id":3555,"date":"2026-06-20T08:34:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T08:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3555"},"modified":"2026-06-20T08:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T08:34:30","slug":"as-juneteenth-is-celebrated-across-the-us-obamas-presidential-center-opens-in-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3555","title":{"rendered":"As Juneteenth is celebrated across the US, Obama\u2019s presidential center opens in Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DALLAS (AP) \u2014 As people gathered across the U.S. to celebrate Juneteenth on Friday, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama welcomed the first visitors to his presidential center.<\/p>\n

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Located on a sprawling campus on Chicago\u2019s South Side, the center honoring the nation\u2019s first Black president has been designed to inspire people to make the change they want to see in their own communities. It\u2019s the kind of contemplation that also comes as Americans gather for Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The holiday marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, at the end of the Civil War with an order declaring the state\u2019s enslaved people to be free with \u201cabsolute equality.\u201d By then, 2 1\/2 years had passed since the Emancipation Proclamation declared the freedom of enslaved people in the South.<\/p>\n

\u201cJuneteenth represents not just a commemoration of the end of slavery but it\u2019s also part of the ongoing struggle for absolute equality and that ideal in American life,\u201d said W. Caleb McDaniel, a Rice University professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book \u201cSweet Taste of Liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s presidential center in Chicago<\/h3>\n

The grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center includes days of events following Thursday\u2019s star-studded dedication ceremony. In addition to greeting visitors Friday as the center opened to the public for the first time, the couple also read to children gathered there.<\/p>\n

Tyrone Sturgis, 62, said it had been a beautiful experience to see all of the people from different walks of life explore the new presidential center on Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor this center to open on Juneteenth, on the South Side of Chicago, it\u2019s extraordinary, it\u2019s awesome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The center\u2019s public opening arrives as a symbolic convergence of legacy and liberation. The nation is deeply divided politically and grappling with renewed questions about the arc of racial progress as the Supreme Court hollowed out the Voting Rights Act, endangering Black political representation in Congress.<\/p>\n

The nearly 20-acre (8-hectare) campus includes a museum featuring a life-sized replica of the Oval Office, a garden designed by Michelle Obama complete with lettuce and strawberry plants, a professional-grade basketball court, a picnic area with grills and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library. Visitors can experience high-tech and hands-on exhibits spanning the campaigns, key moments of Obama\u2019s presidency and life at the White House.<\/p>\n

The spaces are designed to bring people together on a campus expected to draw as many as 1 million visitors annually, but the center also aims to encourage personal reflection. Louise Bernard, the museum\u2019s director, has said they\u2019re \u201cinviting people to bring change home, however change may be defined, both small or large.\u201d<\/p>\n

The history of Juneteenth<\/h3>\n

This is the fifth year since Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday by former President Joe Biden, who served as Obama\u2019s vice president. But the celebrations, which began in Texas and then spread across the country, have a rich and long history in Black America, with the day often spent gathering for picnics and cookouts.<\/p>\n

The holiday \u2014 a combination of \u201cJune\u201d and \u201cnineteenth\u201d \u2014 marks the day when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in the Texas port city with the declaration of freedom in General Order No. 3.<\/p>\n

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As the third year of the Civil War neared, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the freedom of \u201call persons held as slaves\u201d in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. Though, for many, it did not mean immediate freedom but a promise of liberation, to be secured with a Union victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really required the force of arms and the success of U.S. armies to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation,\u201d McDaniel said.<\/p>\n

About six months after Granger\u2019s arrival in Galveston, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationwide was ratified.<\/p>\n

Celebrations across the nation this year<\/h3>\n

Juneteenth\u2019s birthplace was celebrated with a daylong gathering at a Galveston park with music and fireworks, a worship service in a historic Black church and a parade that included brass bands and brought out families who braved temperatures in the 80s. Those in attendance were invited to join a community picnic after the parade ended. <\/p>\n

In nearby Houston there was a lineup of musical artists and a domino tournament at Emancipation Park, established in 1872 by a group of formerly enslaved men.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of other cities across the U.S. announced events over the long weekend, including a parade in Atlanta, a bike ride in Los Angeles and a festival on Martha\u2019s Vineyard. People also gathered for community projects to mark the day, including a group of schoolchildren in Vermont.<\/p>\n

Several cities across the U.S. hosted walks named for Opal Lee, the Texas woman who pushed for years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Participants walked 2 1\/2 miles to symbolize the 2 1\/2 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced in Texas. Lee, known as the \u201cgrandmother of Juneteenth,\u201d turns 100 this year.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on a continuing struggle<\/h3>\n

Black Texans embraced the date of Granger\u2019s arrival as one to celebrate, even as the Ku Klux Klan was established in Texas by 1868. By the 1880s, \u201cit was difficult to find a significant community in Texas where it wasn\u2019t being marked by African Americans,\u201d McDaniel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made it a community celebration, they made it a celebration of not only freedom but also a demonstration of community empowerment and institution-building,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Corey D.B. Walker, dean of Wake Forest University\u2019s divinity school, said the holiday offers a way to recognize the nation\u2019s \u201ccomplex history\u201d and what it means to be a U.S. citizen, especially during efforts by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to undermine the retelling of Black history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it really reminds people the importance of understanding a fuller, more robust portrait of our nation\u2019s history and the many contributions of many individuals who have contributed to America\u2019s experiment with democracy,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

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___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Claire Savage contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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