The Office of Equity and Human Rights will host a virtual program, “The Rich History of Emancipation Day Celebrations,” from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.

Juneteenth became a recognized holiday in Iowa 21 years ago, when Iowa became the seventh state to officially recognize June 19, 1865, as the date the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, finally learned that slavery had ended. While Americans have rallied around Juneteenth as a fitting and important date to commemorate the end of slavery, Black Iowans have celebrated and commemorated the end of slavery for at least 166 years.

On June 14th, Dr. Leslie Schwalm will talk about the beginnings of Black Emancipation Day celebrations in Iowa, and explore with the audience how and why Emancipation Day was so important to Iowa’s Black communities, especially in the nineteenth century.

Schwalm is a historian of Civil War America and Professor Emeritus of History and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Iowa. Schwalm writes and lectures on how the wartime destruction of slavery shaped the lives of Black and white Americans, North and South.

The program will be held on Wednesday, June 14 from noon-1. p.m. via Zoom. Pre-registration is required.