Today, the UNC Press blog is happy to offer a guest post from William A. Blair, professor of U.S. history and director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center at the Pennsylvania State University. In November, UNC Press will be publishing Lincoln's Proclamation, a collection of essays coedited by Blair and Karen F. Younger that offers new perspectives on the 16th president's most famous words. In this post, William Blair explains the origins of Juneteenth and the tradition of Emancipation Day celebrations throughout the United States. - Matt Popular practice has deemed...