Press release: Red Sox to celebrate Juneteenth at Fenway Park Sunday, June 18 mlb.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mlb.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Even though it’s been celebrated for 156 years and is recognized in some form in 47 states and the District of Columbia, Juneteenth is not a federal holiday. But there’s a piece of legislation in Congress trying to change that.
Senator Cory Booker – Rep. Shirley Jackson Lee Washington – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Representative Shirley Jackson Lee (TX-18) today re-introduced the
Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.
“Juneteenth,” observed on June 19, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and is also known as “Emancipation Day,” “Jubilee Day,” and “Juneteenth Independence Day.”
On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, which announced that, in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation, “all slaves are free.”
Juneteenth is currently recognized by 47 states and the District of Columbia as an official state holiday or observance. In 1980, Texas was the first state to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday.