CLEVELAND — For the first time, Cuyahoga County will have a paid holiday on Friday in observance of Juneteenth.
Last month, Cuyahoga County council approved an ordinance to make Juneteenth a holiday. The ordinance also will allow county workers to not take paid time off to work the polls on Election Day.
County offices will close in observance of the holiday.
The paid holiday will be awarded annually on June 19. Because June 19 falls on a Saturday this year, county workers will get Friday off.
Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19. June 19, 1965, was when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation signed in 1863. U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger’s order meant that all enslaved people in Texas were freed.
Juneteenth was celebrated in 1866 by the Black community in Texas. Juneteenth has been an annual celebration throughout the U.S. ever since.
Amid the unrest following the death of George Floyd last year, a number of companies and government organizations declared Juneteenth a holiday, including the state of New York, Best Buy and Target.
