Last year, Governor Laura Kelly announced that Kansas was to designate Juneteenth as a state holiday, joining 28 other states. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day the last enslaved Americans received word that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation to abolish slavery more than 2 years after the end of the Civil War. Governor Kelly has issued proclamations recognizing Juneteenth every year since 2020.
In 2021, Juneteenth became the first Federal Holiday created in more than 40 years. Since then, Kansas’ neighboring states of Nebraska, Missouri, and Colorado have also established Juneteenth as a state holiday. The holiday applies to executive branch employees under Governor Kelly’s jurisdiction.
