Gov. Mike DeWine has announced that after President Joe Biden signed federal legislation to make Juneteenth — June 19 — a federal holiday, the State of Ohio will also observe holiday. Because June 19 falls on Saturday this year, state offices are closed today, June 18. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the U.S. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas — about two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in the Southern states. 6/17/2021