Published June 15, 2023

All Fort Worth ISD offices are closed Monday, June 19, to celebrate the federal Juneteenth holiday. 

Administrative offices and Summer Learning courses will resume operations, Tuesday June 20.

Juneteenth, also known as “Emancipation Day,” commemorates the day the last Southern enslaved African Americans were officially emancipated in Texas. On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordan Granger arrived in Galveston with news that enslaved people were free. The order was announced more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, declaring an end to slavery in the Confederacy. In December 1865, ratification of the 13^th Amendment declared all enslaved Americans free. Texas has observed Juneteenth since 1980.

President Joseph Biden signed legislation officially recognizing Juneteenth as a federal holiday in 2021.

Fort Worth ISD alumna, former educator, and 2019 Wall of Fame recipient, Opal Lee, affectionately known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” is credited for her years of advocacy to see Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday.

Earlier this week, Ms. Lee was in Washington, D.C. Introduced by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Ms. Lee gave a few brief remarks at the inaugural Juneteenth celebration hosted at the White House.

“Make yourself a committee of one to change somebody’s mind,” she said.  “If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.”

Ms. Lee is slated to lead a 2.5-mile Walk to Freedom –recognizing the more than two years it took for news to reach Galveston that enslaved African Americans were free – Monday, June 19. The walk begins at 10:45 a.m. at Evans Avenue Plaza in Fort Worth.

Like FWISD, most Fort Worth city offices are closed Monday in observance of Juneteenth. Several city events are also slated to celebrate Juneteenth. Visit the City of Fort Worth website for additional information.   

FWISD administrative offices, which are currently on a four-day summer work week schedule, resume 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. business hours on Tuesday and will be closed on Fridays.  Families are encouraged to visit www.fwisd.org/summerlearning to view Tuesday’s start times for their respective Summer Learning courses.