City of Bellevue Offices and the Bellevue Public Library will be closed on Monday, June 20, 2022 in observance of Juneteenth. As always, the City of Bellevue's Police and Fire Departments will continue to operate 24 hours a day during this time. If you have an emergency please call 911!
Trash service in Bellevue will not be affected as Papillion Sanitation will be open on Monday, June 20th and all routes will be running their regular schedule this week.
Juneteenth is the United States youngest federal holiday and became officially recognized last year by President Joe Biden.According to USA Today, the holiday commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation. President Abraham Lincoln issued the proclamation to free enslaved African Americans in secessionist states on January 1, 1863, but enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, would not learn of their freedom until two years later. On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gorgdaon Granger informed th community of Galveston, Texas of President Lincoln's proclamation. Though it was issued years prior, enslavers were held responsible for telling the enslaved they were free, and some ignored the directive. Maj. Gen. Gordon demanded Galveston locals comply with the proclamation. The inaugural Juneteenth to commemorate the official day enslaved people in Galveston were freed began in 1866. The holiday, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, spread across the country as African Americans migrated away from the South.