Juneteenth made national holiday

On June 17, President Joe Biden signed legislation creating the first national holiday in over 30 years. Juneteenth National Independence Day, or Juneteenth, will be observed on June 19 as a legal public holiday.

The last time legislation was passed and signed into law to create a legal public holiday was in 1983 when Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was recognized to observe the birthday of the Civil Rights leader. MLK Day is observed on the 3rd Monday of January each year.

While there were 14 members of the House of Representatives who voted against the bill, it passed both the Senate and the House with overwhelming support. Wyoming’s delegation—Senator John Barrasso, Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative Liz Cheney—all voted in favor of the bill. 

In 2003, Wyoming passed legislation to observe Juneteenth on the 3rd Saturday in June. Barrasso, who was a state senator at the time, voted in favor of that bill as well. 

Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865 as the end of chatel slavery in the United States. Though the Emancipation Proclamation—which was signed on September 22, 1862 and went into effect January 1, 1863—freed all enslaved people within the Confederate States it wasn’t until two-and-a-half years later that news of the proclamation reached Texas.

It was on that day when General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to deliver General Order No. 3. The order informed all enslaved people of Texas they were free. The order came more than two months after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

This year, because June 19 fell on a Saturday, the observed day would have been June 18 for most federal employees. While June 19 wasn’t a state holiday in Wyoming, as those are set by the state legislature, Governor Mark Gordon said he would work with lawmakers to consider that option in the future.

Said Gordon, “Freedom is always a cause for celebration and this is a momentous day in our nation’s history. I encourage people to observe this commemoration of the full enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, which embodies the values of all Americans.”