As Juneteenth is celebrated across the US, Obama’s presidential center opens in Chicago
A person, who declined to give his name, stands for a photo during a Juneteenth celebration in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)2026-06-19T07:10:01Z DALLAS (AP) — As people gathered across the U.S. to celebrate Juneteenth on Friday, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama welcomed the first visitors to his presidential center.Located on a sprawling campus on Chicago’s South Side, the center honoring the nation’s first Black president has been designed to inspire people to make the change they want to see in their own communities. It’s the kind of contemplation that also comes as Americans gather for Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. Former President Barack Obama gives a high-five during a book reading with children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) Former President Barack Obama gives a high-five during a book reading with children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The holiday marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas at the end of the Civil War with an order declaring the state’s enslaved people to be free with “absolute equality.” By then, 2 1/2 years had passed since the Emancipation Proclamation declared the freedom of enslaved people in the South.“Juneteenth represents not just a commemoration of the end of slavery but it’s also part of the ongoing struggle for absolute equality and that ideal in American life,” said W. Caleb McDaniel, a Rice University professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Sweet Taste of Liberty.” Obama’s presidential center in ChicagoThe grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center includes days of events following Thursday’s star-studded dedication ceremony. In addition to greeting visitors Friday as the center opened to the public for the first time, the couple also read to children gathered there.Tyrone Sturgis, 62, said it had been a beautiful experience to see all of the people from different walks of life explore the new presidential center on Friday. “For this center to open on Juneteenth, on the South Side of Chicago, it’s extraordinary, it’s awesome,” he said. The center’s public opening arrives as a symbolic convergence of legacy and liberation. The nation is deeply divided politically and grappling with renewed questions about the arc of racial progress as the Supreme Court hollowed out the Voting Rights Act, endangering Black political representation in Congress. Former President Barack Obama speaks during the dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) Former President Barack Obama speaks during the dedication ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Former President Barack Obama, left, and former first lady Michelle Obama read to school children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) Former President Barack Obama, left, and former first lady Michelle Obama read to school children on opening day of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in John Lewis Plaza, Friday, June 19, 2026, in Chicago. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The nearly 20-acre (8-hectare) campus includes a museum featuring a life-sized replica of the Oval Office, a garden designed by Michelle Obama complete with lettuce and strawberry plants, a professional-grade basketball court, a picnic area with grills and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library. Visitors can experience high-tech and hands-on exhibits spanning the campaigns, key moments of Obama’s presidency and life at the White House. Read More The spaces are designed to bring people together on a campus expected to draw as many as 1 million visitors annually, but the center also aims to encourage personal reflection. Louise Bernard, the museum’s director, has said they’re “inviting people to bring change home, however change may be defined, both small or large