SUMMIT COUNTY, OHIO—Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro and County Council have formally recognized the Juneteenth holiday. Two weeks ago, in a historic moment, the United States Senate and House of Representatives passed legislation to create the holiday and President Biden declared Juneteenth to be a national holiday in the United States, making it the first new federal holiday created in nearly four decades. Governor DeWine has also declared Juneteenth to be a recognized holiday in the State of Ohio.
Though the Juneteenth holiday was just recently formalized, many Americans have celebrated it annually for decades. Juneteenth commemorates the Union Army’s final announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, ending legal slavery in the United States. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, the news did not reach enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas until June 19, 1865, just months before ratification of the 13th Amendment, which ultimately ended slavery in the nation.
“On Juneteenth, we have the opportunity to not only reflect on our nation’s history of slavery, but also to recognize the potential to advance equity for Black people who live and work in Summit County and to live up to the principals we embrace as Americans,” said Executive Shapiro. “We should all use this holiday as an opportunity to celebrate the culture and many achievements of Black Americans in Summit County and throughout the nation.”
