US Senate passes bill to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday

By Tanner Stening | tstening@masslive.com

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a bill to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday, according The Hill.



Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation more than two years prior, has been celebrated by Black communities for years as the day slavery officially ended in the U.S.

The bill’s passage comes just days before the holiday is celebrated on June 19, and now awaits passage in the House.

Juneteenth became an officially recognized holiday in Massachusetts, thanks to an amendment added by State Rep. Bud L. Williams, of Springfield, and Maria Duaime Robinson, of Framingham, to a COVID-19 spending bill signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker last year.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the state’s first Black governor, in 2007 signed a proclamation to recognize Juneteenth as a day of observance. For the first time in Massachusetts, the historic day will be recognized as a state holiday this coming weekend.