New Haven will give city employees the day off for Juneteenth moving forward, according to the mayor's office.
Mayor Justin Elicker and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers announced Friday Juneteenth will be a City-observed holiday.
The announcement came on the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. The celebration is held every June 19, to mark the day on June 19, 1865, when Gen. Gordon Granger led Union troops to Galveston, Texas to make the announcement that the Civil War was over and enslaved people were free, two and a half years after the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation.
"It is critical that we observe this day for all those that have sacrificed everything to ensure justice in our community, to educate our neighbors and loved ones about African-American history, and to join this national calling for racial equality in the United States," Elicker and Walker-Myers said in a joint statement on Friday.
