06/10/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2025 11:34
WHO: The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD)
WHAT: MWRD's Board of Commissioners and staff will gather to raise the Juneteenth flag
WHERE: Barbara J. McGowan Main Office Building, 100 E. Erie St., Chicago, and at all seven water reclamation plants
WHEN: Friday, June 13 at 10 a.m.
Declaring its commitment to freedom, achievement and equality, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) will celebrate Juneteenth with a flag raising ceremony and parade participation on Friday, June 13 at 10 a.m. at the Barbara J. McGowan Main Office Building and at all seven water reclamation plants.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating the end to slavery in the United States. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth," it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order issued by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for enslaved persons of African descent in Texas.
Originating in Galveston, Texas, Juneteenth has since been observed annually throughout the United States, growing in recognition in the Chicago area. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, creating a federal holiday. Although the federal government did not observe Juneteenth as a national holiday until 2021, two years prior, the MWRD offered the day as a paid optional holiday, the first to do so in Cook County.