Governor Phil Murphy today signed legislation (S19), which designates the third Friday in June as a State and public holiday, known as Juneteenth Day. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas to inform enslaved people of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and their freedom.

State lawmakers voted Thursday to designate Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery, a state holiday.

The legislation establishes the third Friday in June as Juneteenth Day, and must be signed by Gov. Phil Murphy to become law.