Town Offices closed Friday, June 18, in honor of Juneteenth

The Shirley Town Offices will be closed on Friday, June 18, in honor of Juneteenth. "Juneteenth Independence Day" was named an official state holiday last year; Governor Charlie Baker signed the holiday into law last year; this is the first year that it will be celebrated officially in the Commonwealth. 

Juneteenth is recognized each year on June 19. On that day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and his Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the Civil War had ended. Major General Gordon read a proclamation declaring that all enslaved people were free. The first Juneteenth was celebrated a year later in Texas and today is recognized across the country to mark this important milestone. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the need to continue working toward racial justice. 

The Town of Shirley, like the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is marking the holiday on Friday, June 18, because June 19 falls on a Saturday this year.

Learn more about the history of Juneteenth »