Juneteenth: What to Know About Closures for the National Holiday
June 19th is on Thursday this year and is the designated "Juneteenth" holiday across the U.S. The Juneteenth moniker is a combination of JUNE + 19.
The day marks the annual observance when Union troops entered Galveston, Texas to notify roughly 250,000 enslaved people they were free. This was almost two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was enacted in January of 1863.
The 13th Amendment abolishing slavery was ratified in December, 1865 and by 1866, Emancipation celebrations began around the country.
President Joe Biden established Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday on June 17th, 2021 and it was celebrated immediately.
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Juneteenth Observance in Washington state
Juneteenth observance in Washington state actually predates Biden's Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation one month earlier in May, 2021 and Juneteenth became a paid state holiday the following year.
Back to Texas. Even though hundreds of thousands of slaves in Texas didn't learn of their freedom for two and a half years, the Lone Star State was the first to designate Juneteenth a holiday in 1980, decades before Biden's National Juneteenth action.
The largest celebration in Washington is scheduled in Tacoma, with events in Seattle, Olympia and Spokane
The YWCA Wenatchee is hosting a Juneteenth celebration with a free BBQ on Wednesday, June 18th in Walla Walla Point Park in Wenatchee from 3pm to 6pm
What is closed on Juneteenth
As a federal and state holiday, public schools that are still in session, government offices, courts, banks, and the stock market are closed on Juneteenth. There is no U.S. mail delivery and post offices are closed.
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