How Milwaukee became home of the longest continuously held Juneteenth celebration

Lake Effect Spotlight · Jun 16, 2026 · 13m

June 19th, or Juneteenth, commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas learned they had been freed from bondage. It was two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, and a city of Milwaukee holiday one year later.

But Milwaukee has been celebrating Juneteenth for much longer -- 55 years. It’s thanks, in large part, to community leader Margaret Henningson and Northcott Neighborhood House, which put on the first Juneteenth celebration in 1971. Henningson says she learned about Juneteenth in a conversation…