What is Juneteenth? Are post offices, banks open in Tennessee? What to know about newest federal holiday
Communities across Tennessee are preparing to celebrate Juneteenth, an annual holiday that marks the emancipation of slavery in the United States.
Juneteenth, the United States' newest federal holiday, is celebrated on Thursday, June 19. As a national holiday, many businesses, including the U.S. Postal Service, will close for the day.
On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed the community of Galveston of Lincoln's proclamation. Although enslaved people had been officially emancipated years prior, enslavers responsible for telling them ignored the order until Union troops arrived to enforce it, according to the founder of Juneteenth.com, Cliff Robinson. Texas was the last Confederate state to have the proclamation announced.
Here's what's open and what's closed on June 19.
The U.S. post office will be closed June 19, in commemoration of Juneteenth, according to the USPS. No mail will be picked up or delivered on that date.
Generally, banks observe federal holidays and will close for Juneteenth. National banks, including branches of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC, Truist, CitiBank, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One will be closed on the holiday. Capital One Cafes will remain open.
The UT Financial Credit Union, Y-12 Credit Union, Tennessee State Bank and Bank of Tennessee will also be closed on June 19.
No. The Credit Union will be closed on June 19 in observance of the federal holiday.
While USPS will close for Juneteenth, UPS and FedEx will continue to deliver, according to the companies' websites.
Emancipation Day: Enslaved Tennesseans weren't freed on the Eighth of August. So why do we celebrate it?
Juneteenth was officially established as a federal holiday under former President Joe Biden in 2021.
Is Juneteenth still a federal holiday? Trump has rolled back many of Biden's moves, could he do the same with June 19?
Tennessee Connect reporter Jordan Green and USA TODAY contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Is mail delivered on Juneteenth? Why June 19 is a federal holiday
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Markets flatline amid Trump's delay on Iran and potential Fed cuts in July
The S&P 500 dipped 0.2% on Friday as investors waited on President Donald Trump's next move on Iran and a possible rate cut from the Federal Reserve in July. Markets closed off a lackluster week as the major stock indices either slightly dipped or remained flat on Friday. The S&P 500 posted a daily drop of 0.2% and a weekly decline of 1.3%. The Nasdaq dropped 0.5%, and the Dow Jones was essentially flat with a daily gain of 0.1%. The end of the short trading week—U.S. markets were closed on Thursday in observance of Juneteenth—came as the White House said Thursday evening that President Donald Trump would decide within two weeks whether to strike Iran. The commander-in-chief had been weighing military action after Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, began trading missile and drone strikes with the Islamic Republic last Thursday. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' Trump posted on social media on Wednesday, referring to Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.' A potential U.S. entrance into the conflict between Israel and Iran could heighten tensions in the region and further disrupt oil trade. Oil prices fell on Friday, in a likely sign that traders were relieved that Trump decided to delay conflict with Iran for two weeks. 'That means two weeks of uncertainty for financial markets, but investors are still inclined to see the Middle East conflict as a local, not a global, economic issue,' Paul Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a Friday analyst note. Meanwhile, Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said Friday that the U.S. central bank may cut interest rates as early as July. 'That would be my view, whether the committee would go along with it or not,' Walker said in an interview with CNBC. On Wednesday, the Fed decided to hold interest rates steady for its fourth meeting in a row. Meanwhile, Trump has pushed for interest rate cuts since he took office in January. 'Uncertainty about the economic outlook has diminished but remains elevated,' wrote the Fed in a Wednesday statement. While the central bank struck a cautiously optimistic approach to the U.S. economy, some analysts were more pessimistic. 'The slump in single-family construction is deepening, another headwind to activity and employment,' wrote Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen, economists for Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a Friday research note. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
How Trump Treats Black History Differently Than Other Parts of America's Past
On the occasion of Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery, President Trump took a moment to complain that the national holiday even exists. 'Too many non-working holidays in America,' Mr. Trump wrote on social media, just hours after his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, made a point of noting that White House staff had shown up to work. The president's decision to snub Juneteenth — a day that has been cherished by generations of Black Americans before it was named a federal holiday in 2021 — is part of a pattern of words and actions by Mr. Trump that minimize, ignore or even erase some of the experiences and history of Black people in the United States. Since taking office in January, he has tried to reframe the country's past involving racism and discrimination by de-emphasizing that history or at times denying that it happened. Government websites have been scrubbed of hundreds of words, including 'injustice' and 'oppression.' Federal agencies eliminated or obscured the contributions of Black heroes, from the Tuskegee Airmen who fought in the military, to Harriet Tubman, who guided enslaved people along the Underground Railroad. School libraries were purged of writings by pre-eminent Black authors like Maya Angelou. Mr. Trump has assailed the Smithsonian Institution for what he characterized as 'divisive, race-centered ideology' in its exhibits on race. He ordered the renaming of monuments to honor Confederate soldiers who fought to preserve slavery. And on Thursday, instead of marking the day when the last enslaved people were informed of their freedom from forced labor, Mr. Trump lamented that Americans had a day off from work and suggested that the holiday was little more than a drain on the economy. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Crowd Bursts Into Laughter at Biden's Holy Trump Dig
Joe Biden made veiled jabs at President Trump during public comments on Juneteenth, drawing a big laugh from a crowd when he made the sign of the cross instead of speaking his successor's name. Biden was at the Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas, where he took part in a service and denounced 'ongoing efforts to erase history.' The church was one of the sites where an order announcing the end of slavery in Texas was read, according to the church. Biden, who made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021 to commemorate the end of slavery, said at the church that 'the events of Juneteenth are of monumental importance to America's story,' according to CBS News. 'Still today, some say to me and you that this doesn't deserve to be a federal holiday. They don't want to moral stain of slavery,' Biden said. The former president spoke on the same day that Trump moaned that there are 'too many non-working holidays.' 'It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Juneteenth. A source familiar with the president's thinking told The Daily Beast that, despite the post, he does not plan on making any changes to federal holidays. One of the most notable moments in Biden's address at the church came when he chose to bless himself instead of using Trump's name. 'I took the view as president that we need to be honest about our history, especially because of ongoing efforts to erase our history, not just him, this guy...' Biden said before pausing and making the sign of the cross, drawing laughter and applause from the crowd. Biden also slammed 'ongoing efforts to erase history from our textbooks and our classrooms' and spoke about efforts to change the names of American military bases that honored Confederate officers. 'What are we doing now? Reinstating those names,' Biden said. Last week, Trump used a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to promise that he would restore the names of Army bases that were once named for Confederate generals. 'Darkness can hide much but can erase nothing,' Biden added. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
