Juneteenth now a paid holiday in Stockbridge

After previously being established as a city holiday in Stockbridge, Juneteenth is now on the list of paid holidays in the city beginning in 2021. This was the result of the City Council’s unanimous vote at its Oct. 27 work session.

The actual date is June 19. Juneteenth is consider the longest-running African American holiday, honoring the end to slavery. The day’s name is a combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” the date in 1865 when federal troops arrived in the Texas city of Galveston more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation to ensure that all enslaved people were freed.