In addition to the downtown Juneteenth celebration planned Saturday in the Market Street Arts and Entertainment District located between Franklin and West Oak streets, the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History plans its own Juneteenth fete.
“This family friendly event is free and open to the public in the museum courtyard,” museum officials said. In case of inclement weather, the celebration will be moved inside to the third floor of the museum.
“To ensure the accurate portrayal of cultural information, the museum will work closely with the Surry County African American Historical and Genealogical Society Inc. as well as the Mount Airy- Surry County Branch of the National Association of University Women,” officials there said. “The celebration will include crafts and activities for children, readings of children’s books about Juneteenth, music, a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, and singing ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing.’”
The first Juneteenth celebration happened in 1866 and included feasting, music, pageants, parades, oral history events, and wearing your Sunday best, according to the museum. “It was a celebration for freedom as well as a reflection and remembrance of what African Americans had survived and the possibilities their new future held.”
While the Jan. 1, 1863, Emancipation Proclamation decreed enslaved people in the Confederate States of America were legally free, none of the states there recognized the action. It wasn’t until the conclusion of the Civil War that Southern states began to officially end slavery, and the last was Texas, with the June. 19, 1865, arrival of General Gordon Granger in Galveston. Upon his arrival, he proclaimed all slaves to be free in Texas.
Originally Juneteenth was primarily celebrated in Texas, but as African Americans moved to other states to pursue work and escape the Jim Crow South, the Juneteenth celebration traveled with them. Thus, Juneteenth spread and is celebrated across the nation.
For information or questions about the event, contact the museum at 336-786-4478 or email jnkissam@northcarolinamuseum.org
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com