Flags at Half-Staff on June 19th, 2020 for Juneteenth

Greetings My Neighbors,

I hope you are well during these most interesting of times through which we are privileged to live. We are witness to history and also hoping then you are each able to do your part in bending the arc of these moments in our nation's shared history towards justice and liberty for all. With that, here is the first-ever half-staffing flag notice for Junethee, Friday, June 19. This was received from Governor Pritzker.

To learn more about the meaning of Juneteenth, below are a few resources that you may find helpful, and you’ll find many others online as well:

What is Juneteenth?
Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865—more than two months after the end of the Civil War, and two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that federal troops delivered General Order Number 3 in Galveston, Texas, at the far reaches of the Confederacy, announcing that all Black enslaved people were free. This year marks the 155th anniversary of that momentous day.

What is Juneteenth? – Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in The Root, 6/17/13
https://www.theroot.com/what-i...

Juneteenth: The 155-year-old holiday’s history explained – CNBC, 6/15/20
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/1...

History of Juneteenth – Video presentation by historian Dr. Shennette Garrett-Scott

Note that flags should already be at half-staff for the COVID-19 Pandemic. If that is not the case, please lower yours to half-staff and keep it at that position until notified.

If you cannot place your flag at half-staff because it is on a fixed post, you can attach a black ribbon as indicated below.

More information on this half-staffing notification? Flag etiquette? Flag disposal? Flag folding? Just ask. Jac Charlier at jac.charlier@gmail.com