President Abraham Lincoln announced the end of slavery in 1862, but it wasn’t until two and a half years later on June 19, 1865, that the news finally reached enslaved people in Texas.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Texas native Annette Gordon-Reed chronicles the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African Americans have endured from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond.

Her new book On Juneteenth provides the context and reminder that the fight for equality is still ongoing in our country.

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This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation.

Photo by Tony Rinaldo.