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Juneteenth Federal Holiday - FederalPay.org

Is Juneteenth a Federal Holiday?

A bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday was signed into law by President Biden June 17, 2021.

Juneteenth will officially be on June 19th each year. This year, June 19, 2021 is a Saturday. Accordingly, federal employees will be off work on the proceeding Friday, June 18, 2021.

This is the first new federal holiday in decades. Juneteenth is now the eleventh official federal holiday.

The official holiday name will be Juneteenth National Independence Day. The holiday will fall on June 19th each year. The official bill is called is S.475 – Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.

What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth commemorates when the last enslaved African Americans in the United States learned they were free. The Confederate army surrendered in April 1865 ending the Civil War. However, word did not reach the last enslaved people until June 19th when union soldiers brought the news to slaves to Galveston, Texas. This was over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves was signed by Abraham Lincoln.

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Topics: Holidays
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Source: www.federalpay.org/articles/juneteenth-federal-holiday