The City of Falls Church government offices and services — including City Hall, the Mary Riley Styles Public Library, and Community Center — will be closed tomorrow, Friday, June 18, in observation of Juneteenth. The Library will also be closed for the holiday on Saturday, June 19, and the Community Center will be open with normal hours (8:30 a.m. – 11 p.m.).

Juneteenth recognizes the day (June 19, 1865) the last of the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were told about the Emancipation Proclamation and that all Black people were free from the bondage of slavery. In modern times, Juneteenth has become a holiday to celebrate freedom, resiliency, and African American history and culture.

The City of Falls Church declared Juneteenth a holiday for the first time in 2020, following Virginia’s declaration that a state holiday be observed. In October 2020, legislation was passed unanimously in Richmond to officially declare it a permanent statewide holiday in Virginia.