NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Juneteenth is now recognized as an official state holiday in Tennessee.
On May 5, Governor Bill Lee signed a bill into a law that would recognize Juneteenth as an official holiday. The law will take effect this June and all state offices will close on June 19th to celebrate the holiday.
Juneteenth was previously recognized only as a "Day of Observance" in Tennessee. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed a bill recognizing Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, commemorates the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the United States.
It recognizes the date of the executive decree announcement in Texas by the U.S. Army, which freed more than 250,000 African Americans who were the last to learn of their freedom on June 19, 1865.
