BATON ROUGE- Governor John Bel Edwards signed a bill Thursday declaring Juneteenth a state holiday.

The bill passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. Juneteenth is observed on June 19, but the bill does not go into effect until the beginning of August.

Juneteenth is the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved African-Americans were freed. You can learn more about the holiday here.