Juneteenth Celebration in the African American Cultural Garden

The annual Juneteenth celebration was held in the African American Cultural Garden in Cleveland on June 17, 2017.

Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is a holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, and more generally the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate South.

In the African American Cultural Garden in Cleveland there was music, story tellers, speeches, a libation ceremony, a litany and more.

Photos/videos of Juneteenth 2017 in Cleveland

George Washington Carver finds a “Colored School”

Karamu Arts Theater actor Stephen D. Hood performed an in-character dramatization of Dr. George Washington Carver at a Juneteenth event put on by the African-American Cultural Garden in Cleveland. Mr. Hood, as Dr. Carver, told of his excitement of learning there was a Colored School where slaves like him might be able to learn reading, writing and more.  Mr. Hood’s full presentation is about 45 minutes and is geared toward students and other groups.

http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/africanamerican/africanamerican.htm

Negro spirituals by William Marshall at Juneteenth event

Opera singer William Clarence Marshall sang American Negro spirituals (Let my people go) at a Juneteenth event put on by the African-American Cultural Garden in Cleveland. http://www.clevelandpeople.com/groups/africanamerican/africanamerican.htm

Negro spiritual Steal Away by William Marshall

Opera singer William Clarence Marshall sang the American Negro spiritual Steal Away ("Steal Away to Jesus") at a Juneteenth event put on by the African-American Cultural Garden in Cleveland.

Juneteenth and the 54th Regiment Volunteer Infantry

Dr. Eugene Jordan told the history of Juneteenth, of Jubilee Day, and why it is so important. He also told of the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army, one of the first official African-American units in the United States during the Civil War. The event was put on by the African-American Cultural Garden in Cleveland.

Juneteenth in Cleveland

Juneteenth was celebrated in the African American Cultural Garden in Cleveland on Sunday June 17, 2012.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863 but in parts of the South, slavery continued. Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865. June 18 is the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves.

Juneteenth has been mostly a Southern event but it has been spreading in recent years.

 Juneteenth in Cleveland - photos and videos