Does your state celebrate Juneteenth? Here is the map of who recognizes it as a holiday and who does not

For more than a century, communities throughout the United States have marked Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day, every 19th of June. While it was officially declared a national holiday in 2021, before that, only a few states recognized it as such.

Texas led the way, becoming the first state to declare 19 June a public holiday over four decades ago — fittingly so, as the first Juneteenth celebrations began there in 1866, one year after the last enslaved people in the U.S. discovered they had been freed. Though many Americans commonly believe that slavery ended with President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, the actual abolition of slavery didn’t come until the Civil War concluded.

Due to the ongoing war at the time of the Proclamation, several secessionist states chose to ignore it. Moreover, numerous slave owners had transported their slaves to Texas, where they continued to be held in bondage and were uninformed about their right to freedom.

That changed on June 19, 1865 when Union Army General Gordon Granger proclaimed in Galveston, Texas that all slaves were free, bringing word of the Lincoln’s Emancipation to the last reaches of the nation. That date has commemorated as the true end to slavery in the US since.

Juneteenth: recognition as a Federal holiday

In 1980, Texas was the pioneering state to acknowledge the holiday through state law. On June 17, 2021, the US Congress approved the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, officially establishing 19 June as the eleventh federal holiday. This means it counts as a federal holiday regardless of individual state decisions.

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The background to Juneteenth

All 50 states and the District of Columbia recognize Juneteenth as a holiday or observance According to Pew Research, the research organization. However, there are 27 states that have passed laws to make Juneteenth a permanent state public holiday which are the following: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Also included is the District of Columbia.

With this statute, federal employees will have the day off and private businesses and organizations can offer Juneteenth as a paid holiday to their employees. Already, under state law in Texas, New York, Virginia, and Washington, Juneteenth is an official holiday where state employees are given the day off.