What is Juneteenth and which NC state government employees get a paid holiday?
Juneteenth is an annual holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. Its name comes from “June 19th,” as it was this date in 1865 that slavery officially ended. It’s pronounced “joon-TEENth.”
In 2022, Juneteenth will be Sunday, June 19. The federal holiday will be observed on Monday, June 20.
Here’s a brief history of Juneteenth and a timeline with major milestones about the holiday:
What is the history of Juneteenth?
Susanna Lee, an associate professor of history at NC State whose work focuses largely on the Civil War and Reconstruction, wrote a blogpost about the history of Juneteenth.
“The arrival of Union troops in Galveston, Texas, in June 1865 put into effect, in the furthest reaches of the Confederacy, President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, issued two and a half years earlier,” Lee wrote. “On June 19, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued an order declaring a potentially revolutionary change, one that threatened the long tradition of white supremacy in the South. General Orders No. 3 declared: ‘all slaves are free.’ June 19 is today celebrated as Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day.”
For the full blogpost, visit news.ncsu.edu/2020/06/what-is-juneteenth.
A timeline of Juneteenth celebrations
Here are major milestones in history regarding the Juneteenth holiday:
▪ 1867: The first major Juneteenth celebration took place in Austin, Texas.
▪ 1872: The Juneteenth holiday was added to a calendar of public events, and Black leaders in Texas bought 10 acres of land to celebrate. This land in Houston is now Emancipation Park.
▪ 1980: Texas became the first state to name Juneteenth as an official state holiday. Juneteenth had informally been celebrated in Black communities for nearly 100 years before it became an official holiday.
▪ 2021: The United States Senate declared Juneteenth a federal holiday. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also proclaimed June 19 as “Juneteenth Day.”
▪ 2022: Cooper allowed thousands of state workers under the executive branch to get a paid day off for Juneteenth, or another day of their choosing that recognizes “cultural, religious or personal significance,” through an executive order.
Which NC state government employees get Juneteenth holiday off?
Cooper’s 2022 executive order allowing some state workers a paid vacation day includes those working in the executive branch, in agencies that report to the governor through his Cabinet.
Cooper’s order “encourages residents to observe Juneteenth as an opportunity to reflect, rejoice, and plan for a brighter future as we continue to address racial injustices in our society” — but they may take another day of “cultural, religious or personal significance.”
What eligible state employees should know:
- Eligible state employees can use eight hours of personal observance leave for Juneteenth or another day, “without any questioning of whether an employee’s identification of a particular day for Personal Observance Leave is sincere and legitimate,” according to the order.
- While Cooper’s order only applies to Cabinet agencies under his jurisdiction, he encouraged other state agencies to adopt the additional leave day as well.
- Eligible employees under the policy that starts as of June 16 are full-time or at least half-time workers under Cabinet agencies and the Governor’s Office. Part-time employees’ leave is prorated.
- Leave must be used by Dec. 31.
Reporter Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 2:15 PM.
