Juneteenth Now An Official City Holiday

Despite Milwaukee having one of the oldest and largest Juneteenth celebrations, the day has never been an official city holiday. Until now.

Starting in 2023, city offices will be closed on June 19.

Juneteenth marks when federal troops ordered the remaining slaves held in the state of Texas to be released on June 19, 1865. The announcement came over two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation legally freeing the slaves. An annual celebration, including a parade and street festival, has been held in Milwaukee for 51 years.

“It’s a celebration, but it also marks an end to a horrific chapter in the country’s history,” said Mayor Cavalier Johnson at a signing ceremony Monday morning at City Hall.

The policy change catches Milwaukee up to the federal government, which first observed Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021.

In 2014, the city made Juneteenth an “optional” holiday where city workers could swap an existing official holiday to take Juneteenth off.

Alderwoman Milele A. Coggs led the push for the 2014 measure and was the lead sponsor behind the unanimously-approved change to make it a full holiday.

“We were halfway there with the ‘optional,'” said Coggs when the Finance & Personnel Committee reviewed the proposal on Sept. 14.

On Monday, she said getting the full measure passed was one of the most memorable and important legislative accomplishments of her 14-year council career.

“I was raised in an African-centered household and one of the things my mother and my family taught me was to never forget the historical relevance of all that has happened to people of African descent in the United States of America,” said Coggs.

The extended Coggs family’s history is intertwined with the holiday. State Rep. Marcia Coggs led the way on the 1987 adoption of a state measure to recognize Juneteenth as an “observation day.” Then-state senator Spencer Coggs partnered with Sen. Lena Taylor on a 2009 measure to have the state recognize it as a legal holiday, which doesn’t close state offices, but prohibits elections and isn’t counted as a day of business for legal documents. The family is always present at the celebration, with several members, including Milele, previously winning Miss Juneteenth and other awards. Now the alderwoman has led the city to declare it an official holiday.

“To that, I say the African word ‘harambee,'” said City Treasurer Spencer Coggs on Monday. “It means pull together.”

Milele said she’ll keep the pen from Monday’s signing alongside one used by Governor Jim Doyle to sign her uncle’s 2009 legislation.

She said she hopes people use the day to observe, reflect and celebrate as well as become reenergized to tackle issues of racial justice. “There has to be a reality that we have so much more to do,” said the alderwoman.

The city measure was co-sponsored by council members Marina Dimitrijevic, Nikiya Dodd, Russell W. Stamper, II, Khalif Rainey, Jose G. Perez, JoCasta Zamarripa, Michael Murphy and Scott Spiker.

Murphy and Northcott Neighborhood House executive director Tony Kearney, Sr., the host of the Juneteenth celebration, joined Johnson, the alderwoman and the treasurer at Monday’s ceremony.

There is a cost to adding a holiday.

“It’s not a huge number,” said budget director Nik Kovac during the committee meeting. “You get the same salary. You just get an extra day off.” After reviewing his notes, he confirmed later in the meeting that increased overtime costs are estimated to be approximately $75,000 annually.

Dimitrijevic said it was becoming difficult to get business done on that day after the federal government designated it an official holiday. Banks and other institutions were closed. “To be real honest, it just felt uncomfortable to even be here that day,” said Dimitrijevic at the committee meeting.

Should Juneteenth fall on a weekend, as it did this year, it will be observed on the preceding Friday (if it falls on a Saturday) or the following Monday (if it falls on a Sunday).

Cesar E. Chavez Day, March 31, is the only remaining optional city holiday. Official city holidays include New Years’ Day, Martin Luther King Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, the last normal workday before Christmas, Christmas Day, the last normal workday before New Years’ Day and now, Juneteenth.

Official holidays include the closure of city offices and the suspension of services like garbage pickup, but public safety and other essential services are maintained.