Celebrations all over Los Angeles County marked Juneteenth and they all shared one thing in common: A rich sense of history.

Juneteenth marks the anniversary of Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger reading General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. It began, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.”

U.S. post offices were closed and mail was not delivered Thursday. All federal offices, schools and banks were also closed.

At the newly re-opened Alta Loma Park in Altadena, a sold-out Juneteenth event offered a luncheon, with a program that included a preview of the upcoming Altadena Oral History Project, an Ellen Garrison Clark Scholarship Award ceremony and a quilt opportunity drawing.

Last weekend, residents observed the day a tad early, with events that included a fair-like celebration of the holiday coupled with a message of all-inclusive unity and inherent freedom for all people at the Metropolitan Baptist Church. The church played host to the happening, with its adjacent property on North Fair Oaks Avenue the site of dozens of vendors, nonprofit informational booths, food, activities and a stage of live music.

The Altadena Historical Society’s fourth annual Juneteenth celebration luncheon offered a preview of the Altadena oral history project titled, “Faces of Resilience: The African American Cultural Legacy Before & After the Eaton Canyon Fire.”

The community celebrated a related event event over the weekend, the Dena Juneteenth Celebration at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Altadena on Saturday.

“This is a day of liberty, a day of freedom, a day of justice, and a day of unity,”  said Heavenly Hughes, director of My Pride Rise, lead organizer of the Altadena event.

“This is a day of liberty, a day of freedom, a day of justice, and a day of unity,” Hughes added.

The luncheon included the Ellen Garrison Clark Scholarship Award Ceremony, with scholarships awarded to local high school students in the spirit of Ellen Garrison Clark, the 19th century educator, abolitionist and early Civil Rights activist who spent the final two years of her life in Pasadena and is buried in Altadena.

“These kinds of community events are so important, as we’re trying to keep the bonds of our neighborhoods sustained, even while people are displaced,” said John Mayo of Altadena, who is leading a group called Altagether, which organizes neighborhood block captains to help residents stay in touch with what’s happening.

In Manhattan Beach, the city held a Juneteenth ceremony at Bruce’s Beach Park, marking the second year of a city-sponsored event for the holiday. The ceremony held special significance, city spokesperson Alexandria Latragna said, as Bruce’s Beach is a pinnacle of Black history in Manhattan Beach.

A Black couple, Willa and Charles Bruce, ran a seaside resort for African American people in the 1920s on the beach below what’s now Bruce’s Beach Park. Manhattan Beach leadership at the time used eminent domain to take that land, on which now sits a Los Angeles County lifeguard station, as well as the homes of other Black people whose properties were on what’s now the parkland.

Community organizers in past years held Juneteenth events at the park to bring awareness to that history, honor the land’s past and the people from whom it was once taken.

That event shed light on the Black couple, Willa and Charles Bruce, who, in the 1920s, ran a seaside resort for Black people on two parcels below the land that would become Bruce’s Beach Park. The city at the time used eminent domain to take that land, as well as the homes of others whose properties were on what’s now parkland.

Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth and L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell spoke at the Thursday morning event, continuing to highlight the former space of refuge for Black Angelenos and the importance it still holds.

The celebration in Leimert Park, billed as a “Black Family Reunion,”  included many of the emotions that come with family reunions: hugs and kisses, shouts of joy, laughter and, of course, tears rooted in the past but also in happiness in being together in the present.

This year’s event was hosted by the Leimert Park Village Merchants Association, kicking off with a women’s drum circle ceremony. Performances included live music by a 30-member jazz band, R&B and reggae and DJ sets throughout the event. In addition, a fashion show was scheduled presented by Sole Folks.

Attendees enjoyed an art exhibit, a children’s area, line dancing, poetry and storytelling. The get-together featured Black-owned businesses that offered ‘food for the soul’ options and merchandise.

“Hosting Juneteenth in Leimert Park is deeply meaningful for our community. It’s a time for Black people to celebrate our culture, unity, and history — but it’s also an invitation for all communities to come together in harmony” wrote Queen Aminah, head of the Leimert Village Association and owner of Queen Aminah Clothing, in a statement.

Aminah added: “While many young people may not fully know the history of Juneteenth due to gaps in education, this celebration offers a powerful way to reconnect, honor our roots, and show the next generation the strength of the village. We welcome everyone to join us in this vibrant expression of culture, joy, and togetherness.”

Earlier, as dawn broke, “Opal’s Walk for Freedom” trekked from Hillery T. Broadous Elementary School to Pacoima City Hall. The walk coincided with a similar event in Fort Worth, Texas, in which the event’s namesake, Opal Lee,   participated.

Lee, now 98, campaigned for decades to make Juneteenth a federal holiday — a quest that came to fruition on June 17, 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, with Lee in attendance for the signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Lee is known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” for the walking campaign she began when she was 89 to get the day declared a national holiday. She describes herself as “just a little old lady in tennis shoes getting in everybody’s business.”

The 2 1/2-mile distance honors the 2 1/2 years it took to inform the enslaved people of Texas of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Sept. 22, 1862, declaring all slaves free in Confederate territory as of Jan. 1, 1863.

Following the Pacoima walk, signs were unveiled designating the intersection of Van Nuys Boulevard and Kewen Avenue as Nancy C. Avery Square, honoring the first Black postmaster of a “first class” post office since Reconstruction.

Avery was the postmaster of the Pacoima Post Office from 1961 until her retirement in 1984. “First class” post offices are determined based on revenue, and in 1961 the Pacoima Post Office was among the 11.6% of the locations that qualified for that designation, according to a motion by L.A. City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez that designated the intersection in Avery’s honor.

Before her appointment by Postmaster General J. Edward Day, the only other Black postmasters had worked in small rural post offices, according to an obituary of Avery supplied by organizers of the event, citing information from the U.S. Postal Service.

Avery was also an active volunteer with the Democratic Party and NAACP and president of what is now the Board of Animal Services Commissioners. She died in 1992 at age 72.

At Pasadena City Hall, The Juneteenth Celebration and NAACP 4rd Annual Roller Jam featured family-friendly activities, arts and crafts by Armory Center for the Arts, a live DJ, and community resources.

Juneteenth is recognized at least as an observance in every state, and nearly 30 states and Washington, D.C., have designated it as a permanent paid or legal holiday through legislation or executive action.

The holiday has been celebrated by Black Americans for generations, but became more widely observed after being designated a federal holiday in 2021 by former President Joe Biden, who was expected to attend an event in Galveston.

The celebrations come as President Donald Trump’s administration has worked to ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, or DEI, in the federal government and remove content about Black American history from federal websites.

Officially celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth marks the moment in 1865 when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

City News Service contributed to this report.