Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Friday, June 19, 2026.
Marking Juneteenth where it began: Galveston celebrates freedom
Juneteenth marks the moment Union troops arrived in Galveston to enforce emancipation, freeing a quarter million enslaved people in Texas in 1865.
The Standard’s Sean Saldana reports on how the city is helping preserve that history and support new celebrations through a grant program.
How one Black man came to understand Juneteenth over six decades
Back in 2020, Michael Hurd wrote an essay for Texas Highways magazine about how his understanding of Juneteenth evolved over the course of his life. Hurd was the director of the Texas Institute for the Preservation of History and Culture at Prairie View A&M University.
He’s since retired, but David Brown spoke to him back then about his memories.
Collection of oral histories shares what it was like being Black in early Dallas
Stories are more than entertaining tales; they encompass people’s experiences, forging emotional connections and fostering deeper understanding. For generations of Black Texans, stories have been conveyed through a rich oral tradition, linking them to their past. After slavery ended, Black families in Texas established farms, churches and schools.
The nonprofit Remembering Black Dallas has published “Our Stories: Black Families in Early Dallas,” capturing this history, and co-editor Judith Garrett Segura joined the Standard to talk about it.
The RGV’s Jackson Ranch Church recognized as stop on Underground Railroad
A historic church site in the Rio Grande Valley is being recognized as a stop on the Underground Railroad ushering enslaved people to freedom in Mexico.
University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley archeology program manager Roseann Bacha-Garza, whose work helped create the historic designation, joins the Standard with the details.
‘Juneteenth Rodeo’ photo book captures world of Black cowboys
In the rodeo world of the 1970s, Black cowboys tested their skill and competed at Black Rodeos – and in a new book, photos and moments from one holiday rodeo are coming to light after being packed away for decades.
“Juneteenth Rodeo” holds snapshots of events, attendees and cowboys of those rodeos in Texas. Writer and photographer Sarah Bird joins us to discuss.
Tracing the lineage of Black-owned bookstores
The first Black-owned bookstore we know of opened in 1843 in New York. Now, there are more than a hundred around the country. In many cases, they’re not just places to buy books – they’re also spaces of activism, resistance, and community.
This history is the subject of the book “Black-Owned” by Char Adams. She joined the Standard with the story.
