This year many will celebrate both Father’s Day Date and Juneteenth 2022. So how many times have this happened?
Since this is only the second year Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday, some may say once. But according to records it’s seen more double day celebrations than once. On June 19th, 1865 Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free in accordance with President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
So, by 1866 freed African Americans in Texas held a celebration on the date to commemorate the end of slavery. Yet still a local celebration. Not a holiday. But in 1980, Texas claimed the date as a state holiday.
Additionally, six years later after Martin Luther King JR.’s assassination, his Poor People’s Campaign held a Juneteenth Solidarity Day. Even though this added prominence to the holiday, no federal law declared the date as a holiday.
Not to mention the awareness in northern states held little significance. Until the “Black-ish” show spoke about the holiday. The episode titled “Juneteenth,” aired Oct. 3, 2017. Actor and Director Anthony Anderson explained the proud moment to ABC.
He explained, “No one was doing television like that, you know?” he said of the episode. “We brought a musical to primetime television.”
Very factual. Now let’s look at the double Father’s Day date and June 19th. Coincidentally, Father’s day also first began on June 19th.
The First Father’s Day Date
The nation’s first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in the state of Washington. In December of 1907 an explosion at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah killed 362 men. On July 5th, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first Father’s Day, honoring the men. But the celebration didn’t continue the following year.
But on June 19, 1910, Sonora Smart Dodd, successful previous petitions in Washington resulted in the holidays declaration. Finally, In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father’s Day.
Therefore, Juneteenth and Father’s Day share 6 state holidays. As well as, sharing one Federally claimed date. State holidays include, 1988, 1994, 2002, 2011, 2016, and 2022. Since, Juneteenth only passed as a federal holiday in 2021, 2022 marks the first federally shared holiday.
