Stratford Announces Juneteenth Flag Raising

From Town of Stratford

STRATFORD, CT — Mayor Laura R. Hoydick will join local officials to recognize Juneteenth, the celebration of the end of slavery in the United States, at a ceremony on the steps of Town Hall on Tuesday, June 18 at 9 a.m.

The event will feature remarks by Cynthia Griffin, the founder of Juneteenth Celebrations in Fairfield County. Reverand Sandra Hadland of the First Baptist Church of Stratford will also be speaking. The Juneteenth flag will be raised by Town Councilors Rene Gibson, Anthony Afriyie and Alvin O’Neal and Fire Chief Jermaine Atkinson.

Juneteenth, alternatively known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Cel-Liberation Day, recognizes nation-wide the June 19th, 1865 date that Union General Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved in Texas – the most remote part of the former Confederacy – were free.

All residents are invited to attend the event. Stratford Town Hall will be closed on Wednesday, June 19 in observation of Juneteenth.