TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jun 17, 2021

The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have passed, and President Biden has signed legislation to recognize July 19 as a federal holiday, Reuters reports. The first celebration will take place this Saturday but federal workers will get the day off tomorrow. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was created in 1983. Among Tennessee’s delegation, only Rep. Scott Desjarlais, R-Murfreesboro, voted against the measure according to Fox 17.

In related news, Baker Donelson announced this week that it will designate Juneteenth as a permanent firm holiday and will encourage workers to use the day as a time of service, education and engagement. The firm will observe the commemoration tomorrow. Frost Brown Todd says it will mark the day by making a $10,000 donation to ParentPreneur Foundation to fund 10 grants for Black parent entrepreneurs.