LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — While Juneteenth has been celebrated for more than a century, 2021 marks the first time it's being celebrated as a federal holiday.
Several events are taking place today throughout the Las Vegas valley.
At the Discovery Children's Museum, both kids and adults learned the importance of the day and used their creativity in creating flags and artwork to celebrate its meaning.
Juneteenth commemorates when enslaved African Americans finally learned they were free in Texas, two and a half years after slavery was abolished.
The last federal holiday to be created was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in 1983.
Many say making Juneteenth a federal holiday is a good opportunity to think both about the past and the future and to share the history of our nation.
