The best Juneteenth events in NYC for 2025

For more than 30 years, the Tenement Museum shared stories about the people who once lived in the building it now owns. But that meant that some groups—particularly Black New Yorkers—were excluded, as there's no record of a Black family living in the apartment building at 97 Orchard Street. 

Now, with an aim to explore the full breadth of immigrant and migrant experiences, the Lower East Side museum is highlighting the stories of a Black family for the first time with a new tour titled "A Union of Hope: 1869." The exhibition tells the story of the Moore family who lived in Soho during and after the Civil War. Reserve tickets here for $30/person.

The museum will also host the "Reclaiming Black Spaces" Walking Tour throughout the summer, which will explore the stories of Black New Yorkers and their resonant impact on local communities.

Lewis Latimer is one of the most important American figures that you've likely never heard of. Among other things, the Black inventor helped develop the telephone alongside Alexander Graham Bell, as well as the lightbulb alongside Thomas Edison. If you want to learn more about this icon—which to be honest, we all should—then you can head to his former home in Flushing, Queens, which is reopening around Juneteenth. 

The Lewis Latimer House Museum had closed temporarily while they built out a new exhibit that you'll be able to check out starting Saturday, June 15, and they're kicking off the opening with a big celebration from 1-4pm. That event will include a marching band, sculpture making station, ceramics workshops, an African drum and dance circle, and more. You can register for the reopening party here. 

After that, the Latimer House Museum will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 5pm. Admission is pay-as-you-wish, with a suggested donation of $5 per person. For more information, check out the museum's website.