Gov. Beshear Signs Proclamation Recognizing Today As Juneteenth National Freedon Day In KY

"I think it’s more and more important that we remind everybody of this dark chapter in our history and that its impacts continue to linger."

(Frankfort, Ky.) - Yesterday, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed a proclamation recognizing June 19, as Juneteenth National Freedom Day. 

Juneteenth commemorates the events that took place on June 19, 1865. That day so many years ago, Major General Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas, to bring news that the Civil War had ended. They were brought the news to read General Order #3, stating that "in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation all enslaved African-American people were free and entitled to absolute equality of personal and property rights."

“During these times when again we have heard voices and we have seen the frustration of hundreds of years of ramifications of slavery, discriminations, Jim Crow, of segregation, I think it’s more and more important that we remind everybody of this dark chapter in our history and that its impacts continue to linger,” said Gov. Beshear. “We should celebrate the dates that at least portions of that dark chapter ended.”

Gov. Beshear will encourage the legislature to adopt this day as a state holiday in the next regular session.