TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Paul Burch on May 9, 2023

Juneteenth is now an official state holiday in Tennessee following Gov. Bill Lee signing a new bill into law on May 5, News 9 reports. The bill was sponsored by Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin. Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 2021. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, commemorates the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and ordered freedom for the enslaved people of the state two months after the end of the Civil War.