Texas' 'Juneteenth' to become new Washington State holiday

OLYMPIA – State representatives approved a bill to make “Juneteenth” a state holiday to honor the day slaves in Texas learned of their freedom.

On June 19, 1863 Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and told the slaves they were freed. But, it was Jan. 1, 1865 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution ended slavery in the United States. It was nearly three years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was delivered on Sept. 22, 1862.

In Olympia, June 19th took a step closer to being recognized as a state holiday after the House of Representatives...