BROWN COUNTY — Brown County commissioners are reversing course after recently changing Juneteenth to Brown County Employee Appreciation Day.
A record of the Brown County commissioner's meeting shows that while making the 2025 holiday schedule, one commissioner suggested calling Juneteenth “Old Settlersteenth Day.”
Juneteenth or June 19, 1865, marked official freedom for all enslaved African Americans more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
WATCH | The meaning of Juneteenth
Juneteenth honors the end of slavery in the United States and was declared a federal holiday in 2021.
The record shows commissioners agreeing on calling it “Brown County Appreciation Day” instead and the holiday was voted on and approved September 4.
On Wednesday, the commissioners voted to scratch their new holiday and make Juneteenth a holiday. The county says it’s the first in Indiana to do so.
“We are going to back up and correct that,” Jerry Pittman, Brown County Commissioner, said. “I have absolutely the greatest respect for people of different races and national origins.”
Many Brown County residents expressed their frustrations on social media and gathered at Wednesday’s meeting with strong emotions.
They say they are relieved the commissioners reversed course but say it never should’ve happened in the first place.
“They knew that they were wrong. They knew there would be an outcry about this,” Brown County resident Jessica George said. “I guess I’m relieved they did change it, but they should be outside-the-box thinkers beforehand.”
A speaker from the Indiana Black Heritage Preservation Program gave a presentation after the vote to talk about historic sites in Indiana.
