A bill to make Juneteenth a South Carolina holiday that was proposed more than a year ago will finally be heard by state senators at its first hearing Wednesday. The proposal — S.5, filed by Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland — will be debated by senators on the Holiday and Observances subcommittee at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Senators also will discuss whether to make Election Day a state holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States on June 19, 1865. Slaves were legally freed under the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, but news of President Abraham Lincoln’s declaration did not reach all enslaved African Americans until later. Juneteeth also is referred to as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.”

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