Stephens College to establish paid work holiday for Juneteenth

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Stephens College will establish Juneteenth as a paid work holiday for its employees beginning next year.

Since June 19, 2022, falls on a Sunday, the paid holiday will occur on Monday, June 20, 2022.

Juneteenth is an annual holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved people in the southern United States that had formed the Confederacy. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended.

Stephens College is encouraging the campus community to join the Juneteenth Block Party at Douglass Park, 400 N. Providence, from 12-2 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, hosted by Columbia Parks and Recreation. The block party will feature music, food, games, balloon animals, and community-organization tables.