Noem signs bill making Juneteenth an official state holiday, SD last state to do so

PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - On Thursday, Governor Noem signed a bill finally making Juneteenth an official state holiday.

Juneteenth celebrates June 19th, 1865, the day federal troops took control of Galveston, Texas, making sure all enslaved black men were set free. That triumphant day only came a full 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and three months after the Civil War came to an end.

South Dakota was the last state to make Juneteenth a legal holiday.

It became a federal holiday in June of 2021 when President Biden signed the bill into law.