Pennsylvania enshrines recognition of Juneteenth into law

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Pennsylvania enshrines recognition of Juneteenth into law

Associated Press | Wednesday, June 19, 2019 4:13 p.m.

Chants for Antwon Rose Jr. fill the air Saturday, June 23, 2018 on Fifth Avenue during Pittsburgh’s Juneteenth Parade from Freedom Corner in the Hill District to Point State Park. The parade served as an outlet for the crowd to protest East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld’s fatal shooting of 17-year-old Antwon Rose, a Woodland Hills High School honors student.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is permanently recognizing Juneteenth, the cultural holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved black people in the United States.

Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed legislation designating June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day.

Most states recognize it, and Pennsylvania lawmakers typically recognize the day by passing non-binding resolutions.

The celebration started with the freed slaves of Galveston, Texas.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in the South in 1863, it couldn’t be enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in 1865.

It was June 19, 1865 when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his Union troops arrived at Galveston with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free.

Under the law, employers aren’t required to treat June 19 as a legal or official holiday.

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