June 18, 2025 By Carol Britton Meyer
The select board also proclaimed June 19 as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” urging all citizens “to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance.” June 19 is both a state and federal holiday.
Juneteenth acknowledges a proclamation from the Executive of the United States issued in 1865 declaring all slaves to be free.
This involves “an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
The first Juneteenth celebration was held in Texas in 1866, the year after Union soldiers landed at Galveston with news that the Civil War had ended and that enslaved people were now free.
Juneteenth is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the goal of creating a more equal and just society, an effort that continues today,” according to the select board proclamation.