Juneteenth To Be Celebrated In Chatham On Saturday

CHATHAM, NJ — Chatham Borough’s mayor signed off on a proclamation encouraging residents to celebrate, reflect and take part in a day of service on Saturday in recognition of Juneteenth.

“The Chatham Borough Governing Body believes that it is right and fitting that its residents celebrate Juneteenth with their families and reflect upon the sacrifices made by America’s enslaved persons and their descendants in the continuous quest for human freedom and dignity,” the proclamation read.

“The Governing Body further believes it appropriate that Chatham residents use Juneteenth as a day for service to benefit fellow citizens,” it also read.

The proclamation focused on the history of the day, most recently with President Joe Biden making Juneteenth a federal holiday on Thursday; and New Jersey’s legislature declaring it a state holiday in September 2020.

Juneteenth reflects on the day that slavery officially ended on June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger headed to Texas to free people who were still enslaved in Galveston, letting them know that Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered.

President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, signed on Sept. 22, 1862 and effective Jan. 1, 1863, intended that all people who were enslaved were instead, supposed to have been set free on the proclamation's effective date.

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