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Juneteenth now an official state holiday in Illinois
Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation in Springfield on Wednesday declaring June 19 an official state holiday.
CHICAGO - The Aurora City Council will vote Tuesday night to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for city staff.
Juneteenth, which commemorates the abolition of slavery throughout the United States and its territories, is celebrated on June 19 every year in honor of that date in 1865 when a Union general read orders in Galveston, Texas stating all enslaved people were free.
The resolution was introduced by Mayor Richard Irvin last summer as Aurora held its 20th annual Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth falls on a Sunday this year, meaning the holiday will be celebrated on Monday in Aurora. Non-emergency city offices will be closed.
The voting and signing ceremony will take place at Aurora City Hall Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Juneteenth became an official state holiday last year when Gov. JB Pritzker signed the historic piece of legislation at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield near a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.