Juneteenth now an official state holiday in South Dakota
Photo: Brent Nathaniel
February 14, 2022
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Gov. Kristi Noem has signed a bill that makes Juneteenth an official state holiday in South Dakota.
South Dakota was the last state to make June 19 a legal holiday with North Dakota approving legislation last April and Hawaii declaring the holiday with legislation in June.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., when three months after the Civil War ended and 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, word of freedom was spread to enslaved Black people in Texas.
