BROOKHAVEN — Lincoln County offices were open and in business Monday morning in a stark comparison to the quiet empty city offices at the Lincoln County Courthouse Monday. Brookhaven’s government was closed for the federal holiday Juneteenth. 

The Board of Aldermen had approved the holiday in a board meeting in March of this year. Juneteenth is celebrated onJune 19th and is the day of celebration of an order declared on June 19, 1865 which proclaimed freedom for slaves in Texas. It has a long tradition of being celebrated by Americans but recently became a federal holiday in 2021. 

Mississippi has yet to declare it an official state holiday. Lincoln County Administrator Daniel Calcote explained to the Lincoln County board of supervisors the day could be swapped with another state holiday to be celebrated as a holiday with the exception of Martin Luther King Day and Veterans Day. 

Mississippi’s State Holidays include New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘s birthday, George Washington’s birthday, Confederate Memorial Day, National Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.  

“They grant us the ability to take for example Confederate Memorial Day and move the holiday to Juneteenth,” he said. “We have not taken Juneteenth yet but could at some point.”