Posted in Web Illinois Makes Juneteenth an Official State Holiday – NBC … January 13, 2022 Juneteenth in Illinois is now a state holiday after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill to commemorate the date in 1865 when the last enslaved Black people in the U.S. learned that they were free. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/illinois-makes-juneteenth-an-official-state-holiday/2533722/