Juneteenth Kicks Off In Waltham With Boys & Girls Club Celebration

WALTHAM, MA — Juneteenth observances in Waltham kick off with a Boys & Girls Club-hosted celebration.

Read more: Waltham Boys & Girls Club Hosting Juneteenth Celebration

The Wednesday, June 19, federal holiday commemorates the day in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, when word finally reached the last enslaved people in Texas that the Civil War had ended, and they were free.

Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the oldest-known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making it a federal holiday, the first since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

Because Juneteenth is an official U.S. holiday, banks, federal offices and post offices in Waltham will be closed Wednesday. Many state, county and local government offices will be closed as well.

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Garbage and recycling pickup in Waltham will be delayed one day. All city offices and the Waltham Public Library will also be closed.