USPS pauses delivery Monday in observance of Juneteenth

WASHINGTON — The Postal Service will not be delivering mail Monday in observance of the Juneteenth holiday.

If you’re expecting any letters or packages to arrive or planning to send out mail, be prepared for a slight delay when regular USPS services resume Tuesday.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

In 2021, Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden. Federal holidays are recognized by federal agencies and most state governments and often result in the closure of non-essential federal government offices, including post offices.

Gov. Kay Ivey authorized Juneteenth as a holiday for state workers in 2022. A bill signed this year made Juneteenth a permanent state holiday in Alabama. 

While the USPS will not be operating on Juneteenth, FedEx and UPS said they will remain open Monday.

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the Civil War had ended and enslaved African Americans were free. The announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.