SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP/WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Illinois became the latest state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday as Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a measure in Springfield on Wednesday near a rare signed copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The new law making June 19 a paid holiday for state employees and public school educators takes effect next year and comes amid a similar federal push. However, under the Illinois law Juneteenth will be a paid holiday only if it falls on a weekday. Since Juneteenth is on Sunday next year, the first paid state holiday will be in 2023, according to Pritzker's office.
Juneteenth marks the 1865 date when the last enslaved Black people learned from Union soldiers in Texas that they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield has displayed a rare copy signed by Lincoln and then-Secretary of State William Seward. The original is housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
Christina Shutt, the new director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum said making June 19 a state holiday is special to Illinois, because of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
"With the Emancipation Proclamation, he made ending slavery an official goal of the Civil War. He transformed a battle for the nation's survival into a battle for the nation's soul," she said.
With a rare signed copy of proclamation, Governor Pritzker said he is proud to commemorate June 19.
"It is our privilege as Illinoisans to house this great document and it is our sacred responsibility to keep its moral compass alive in our own times, especially as we become a leader in the nation in the depth of our recognition of this new Juneteenth state holiday,” Pritzker said at the signing.
"...As the history of Juneteenth reminds us, it took more than two years after Lincoln signed it before it would be enforced in places like Texas at the edge of the confederacy and the union."
While many states commemorate the ending of slavery, only some observe Juneteenth as an official holiday. The number has grown following last summer’s reckoning over racial injustice, most recently including Maine and Washington.
The U.S. Senate approved a bill Tuesday making Juneteenth a federal holiday, which is expected to pass the House.
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(The Associated Press contributed to this copy.)