Tuesday, June 17, 2025–9:00 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Thursday is Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
On Monday, the Rome City Commission read a proclamation for Juneteenth.
On June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform 250,000 enslaved people that they were free.
“Though the Civil War was nearing the end, Confederate troops still held much of Texas, and the Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t enforced until the Union army took control of the state,” said Jackie Jenkins with the local NAACP. “Since then, June 19 has been celebrated as a day of freedom and remembrance. Texas was the first state to designate Juneteenth as a holiday.”
Jenkins quoted from Opal Lee, who is widely known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” for her tireless efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
“Miss Opal Lee was also saying that we are not free until we are all free,” Jenkins told commissioners.
Lee also said, “We’ve got so many things that we need to attend to, and I contend that we could do it so much better if we were all on the same page.”
“Miss Lee also stated that what we are trying to get people to understand is that Juneteenth is freedom,” Jenkins added. “Not just for Black people or Texas people. It’s freedom for everybody.”
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
Rome’s 3rd annual Juneteenth Parade will be held this coming Saturday at 11 a.m.
The lineup starts at 9:30 a.m. behind the old Sears building on First Avenue.
Meanwhile, City of Rome offices will be closed on Thursday in observance of Juneteenth.
Thursday’s garbage, recycling, and yard waste will be serviced on Wednesday.
Friday will be serviced as normal.
Additionally, the Walker Mountain Landfill will be closed on Thursday.
