Lakeland commission unanimously approves Juneteenth becoming paid holiday for city workers
LAKELAND, Fla. - Juneteenth Day is now a paid holiday for city employees in Lakeland after being approved by Lakeland’s City Commission on Monday.
The City of Lakeland recognized Juneteenth as a "special day of observance" on April 5, 2021, but further designated it as a paid holiday for all regular full-time and regular part-time city employees.
History of Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a blend of the words June and nineteenth, since June 19, 1865 is the day the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.
Two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to free 250,000 people who were still enslaved.
Other names for the holiday include: Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day, Second Independence Day and Emancipation Day.
President Biden signed a bipartisan bill making Juneteenth the 11th American federal holiday on June 17, 2021.
The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act was sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and had 60 co-sponsors.
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