Juneteenth Is Milford's Newest Town Holiday

MILFORD, MA — There's a new town holiday in Milford. Town Meeting on Monday approved making Juneteenth a new holiday when town offices close and nonessential employees get the day off.

Milford's recognition of the holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S., follows the state recognition of Juneteenth in 2020. Milford Town Meeting voted 39 to 1 to adopt Juneteenth as a holiday.

Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day began in 1983. The 2021 Juneteenth fell just two days after President Joe Biden signed the law establishing the holiday, resulting in many businesses and federal offices choosing to remain open.

In 2022, Juneteenth will fall on a Sunday, but the public observance day will be on June 20.

The Juneteenth holiday marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers told slaves located near Galveston, Texas, they were free. That first Juneteenth came two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed some slaves, but left others in bondage. Texas was the last state the Union Army reached, and so the 1865 declaration was seen as the real date slaves were freed, according to the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.