Greenwich To Observe Juneteenth With Town Hall Ceremony

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich will hold a ceremony to observe Juneteenth on Wednesday, June 19, at town hall.

The event, which is being presented by the First Selectman’s Diversity Advisory Committee and the Greenwich Youth Services Bureau, will run from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. outside, according to First Selectman Fred Camillo.

Camillo said he won't be able to attend due to a prior commitment, but there will be a flag raising and a proclamation reading. There will also be a percussion lecture demonstration with percussion instruments to educate people on the basic rhythmic strctre of indigenos West African music, Camillo noted.

Greenwich Town Hall will be open for business on June 19.

Greenwich held its first town Juneteenth ceremony in 2022. Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in 2021, and became a state holiday in Connecticut in recent years.

The day marks the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas on June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation.

Union Army General Gordon Granger delivered the news to those still enslaved in Galveston, Texas, that they were free.