Salem To Host Public Juneteenth Ceremony On Monday

SALEM, MA — The public is invited to attend a Juneteenth ceremony and flag-raising at Salem City Hall on Monday.

Juneteenth — which passed the U.S. Congress and as a national holiday this week — is the day when the final slaves were freed in Galveston, Texas when word of the Union's victory in the Civil War reached the state.

The Juneteenth recognition will be from 2 to 3 p.m. on Monday at City Hall on Washington Street.

The program will include welcoming remarks and an opening ceremony featuring North Shore Juneteenth Accociation Inc.'s Nicole McClain and Rev. Andrew Bennet.

Mayor Kim Driscoll will then make remarks along with other public officials.

There will be a rendition of the Black national anthem and a raising of the Juneteenth flag.

President Joe Biden was expected to sign into law a bill Congress passed on Tuesday to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

The Senate passed the bill through unanimous consent, while the U.S. House of Representatives did so on Wednesday by a vote of 414-14.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)