Juneteenth General Order No. 3 Crew Socks

• National Archives Store Exclusive
• Mid-calf crew sock
• Unisex
• Mens size 6-11, womens size 7 1/2 -12
• Made of 70% cotton, 28% polyester, 2% elastic
• Machine wash cold, dry inside out

• Product Description

• These crew socks are made in the U.S.A. exclusively for the National Archives Store. General Order No. 3 announced to the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free on June 19, 1865. This day eventually became known as Juneteenth. Our socks are a stylish homage to freedom.

  The original document is a journal entry stretching across two pages. You can see a digital version of the original in NARA's online catalog here.

On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation and announcing the end of the Civil War and slavery.

This day has come to be known as Juneteenth, a combination of June and nineteenth. It is also called Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, and it is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 17, 2021, and is now celebrated as a holiday or observance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The official handwritten record of General Order No. 3 is preserved at the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.

General Order No. 3 states:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”