06/19/2026
City of Springfield raises Juneteenth Flag
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Congressman Richard Neal, State Representative Bud Williams, Springfield’s Brethren Community Foundation, the Peter Brace Brigade and city and state officials joined Friday morning for the city’s annual Juneteenth commemoration and Juneteenth Flag Raising.
State Representative Carlos Gonzalez, Police Superintendent Larry Akers, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Judi Crowell, City Councilors Lavar Click Bruce and Malo Brown, Chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners Robert Cee Jackson and fellow members of the Brethren Community Foundation, and Springfield Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Heather Caisse-Roberts, with generous Freedom Day Concert sponsors - both locally black owned and community committed - White Lion Brewing founder Ray Berry, 6 Brick’s LLC owner Payton Shubrick were all in attendance.
Following the flag raising ceremony, a special musical celebration, with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra will take place, led by conductor Avery Sharpe. The Springfield Symphony Orchestra, White Lion Brewing Company, and 6 Brick's LLC welcome all to celebrate Juneteenth with an unforgettable day of live music, local businesses, and joy in the heart of downtown Springfield. The event will take place in Center Court at Tower Square from 12-6 PM, with the Freedom concert at 3 PM. Come celebrate with us, ALL are welcome! Both the flag raising and concert are free and open to the public.
Mayor Sarno stated, “State Representative Bud Williams and I are proud and honored to come together once again for the city of Springfield’s annual Juneteenth celebration with a special flag raising ceremony here at City Hall. Following the flag raising we’ll join with our renowned Springfield Symphony Orchestra at a new location this year – right at Center Court inside Tower Square –for a unique and powerful performance to commemorate this historic event. It is important for us to recognize this significant part of our nation’s history. My administration has always supported this important occasion and I was proud to approve and support adding Juneteenth as an official paid holiday for the city of Springfield. Thank you, again, to State Rep. Williams for his advocacy for the Juneteenth holiday on the state level too.”
State Representative Bud Williams stated “There are many parts of our country where our Black history, African-American history is actively being distorted and even removed when instead it should be recognized, studied, and celebrated. We were persistent in securing Juneteenth as an official holiday and we must come together to acknowledge and celebrate this significant history.”
“We continue to proudly celebrate and uplift our Black American history especially on Juneteenth”, continued State Rep. Williams. “There were over 250,000 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas in 1865 when the news of freedom finally arrived, two years late. We will always remember our history and what we continue to overcome. I am so proud of our community and honored to stand together as we celebrate and raise the Juneteenth flag at Springfield City Hall and join for the Freedom Day Concert at Tower Square. I am also deeply proud to have, on behalf of our residents, introduced the legislation that made Juneteenth an official holiday here in Massachusetts and commend President Biden for following suit on the federal level. In a country that stands for freedom, I encourage each and every single resident to learn, to remember, and celebrate this Juneteenth because none of us are free until all of us are free.”
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, commemorating the historic day in 1865 when the last remaining enslaved African Americans were informed of their freedom— two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Recognized as a federal holiday since 2021, Juneteenth is both a celebration and a call to remember the ongoing work toward equity and justice.
Mayor Sarno states, “The Juneteenth Freedom Day Concert with our iconic Springfield Symphony Orchestra is a unique and powerful performance in celebration this critical historic event. It is important for us to recognize this significant part of our nation’s history. My administration has always supported this important occasion and I was proud to approve and support adding Juneteenth as an official paid holiday for the city of Springfield.”
“I also want to thank State Rep. Bud Williams, chair of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, Board of Police Commissioners member Cee Jackson and the Brethren Community Foundation, Springfield Cultural Council President Andrew Cade, Springfield Symphony Orchestra (SSO) team led by Heather Caisse-Roberts, as well as our city team for their dedicated efforts to recognize Juneteenth each year,” said Mayor Sarno.
Governor Charlie Baker approved the Juneteenth holiday across the state of Massachusetts in 2020, which was championed and sponsored by Representative Bud Williams. President Joseph Biden signed into law a bill establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. The new Juneteenth holiday, which is observed annually on June 19th, marks the anniversary date of June 19, 1865, when Union Army General Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, news of the Emancipation Proclamation to the residents of Texas and freed all remaining enslaved people in the state.
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared “that all persons held as slaves shall be then, thenceforward and forever free.” Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation also called for the U.S. federal government, including military authority, to recognize and maintain the freedom formerly enslaved people, refrain from acts to repress them, or any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers, under the command of Major General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas and read these federal orders that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free. Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed all enslaved people almost two and a half years earlier, the Emancipation Proclamation had little impact in Texas, as it was the most remote of the slave states and had a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.
One of General Granger’s first orders of business upon arriving in Texas was to read to the people of Texas, General Order Number 3, which stated:
“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”
