BY DOUG GRAVES

Special to The Press

June 19, 2021, will be a paid holiday for Lehigh County employees.

Juneteenth, the day Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger landed in Galveston, Texas and ordered slave owners to free the men and women working in the area’s plantations.

According to Commissioner Amy Zanelli, Lehigh County is the third county in the state to declare Juneteenth a holiday. The day is already a state holiday.

“This Juneteenth, people across Pennsylvania and the world will celebrate this important day of independence,” Gov. Tom Wolf said last year when he announced Juneteenth National Freedom Day. “This is a moment to honor African American history and reflect on how each of us can promote equality, liberty and justice for all the people.”

African Americans were declared free from slavery in several phases starting with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.

However, the proclamation only applied to those states in rebellion against the United States. Actual release from slavery came as the Union Army advanced through the south.

It wasn’t until April 9, 1865, at the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House in Virginia Confederate forces were defeated.

Even then, some Confederate commanders held out and did not surrender until later.

On June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon Granger ordered those held in slavery be released in the Galveston area.

Even so, slavery remained legal in some border states that had not rebelled against the United States.

Slavery was outlawed in Delaware and Kentucky when the 13th Amendment was passed in December 1865 outlawing chattel slavery throughout the United States.

A bipartisan motion by county commissioners and a second brought the motion on the floor.

Commissioner Zakiya Smalls, a Democrat, made the motion to amend the budget to fund the Juneteenth holiday.

This was seconded by Marc Grammes, a Republican. Commissioners voted 7-2 for the holiday.

The vote against the motion was also bipartisan.

Democrat Commissioner Robert Elbich and Republican Commissioner Percy Dougherty voted against the holiday due to the cost.

The holiday will cost taxpayers $150,000 per year to cover employee holiday pay, according to a statement released by County Executive Phillips Armstrong.