All IWCS buildings and offices will be closed on June 19 in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.
Juneteenth is the oldest known commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally heard that the Civil War had ended, and learned that the Emancipation Proclamation had made them free nearly two years earlier. This was a pivotal moment in American history when all enslaved black people finally learned they were free people. It was a moment of celebration and joy. It was a moment when America finally took a step closer to its promise of freedom, equality, and justice for all.