Click on this graphic to see some vintage photos (a bit grainy) in this Juneteenth video, featuring music by Ralph Stanley from the soundtrack of O Brother Where Art Thou :




Reference:
barstowmama. (2008). Happy Juneteenth...Just what does that mean? [video]. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqdnk_ThWc0.

Juneteenth and the Spirit of Freedom Memorial

African American Men Became Their Own Emancipators

Harry Jones, Assistant Director and Curator of the African American Civil War Museum, offers a description of the real significance of the Juneteenth celebration.

View this NPR video of the true significance of Juneteenth and a memorial called the Spirit of Freedom, dedicated in 1998 and inscribed with the names of 209,145 men of African descent who joined the Bureau of United States Colored Troops.

According to Jones, President Abraham Lincoln made an agreement with these men to help bring the 11 southern states back into the Union. He proposed that this was the only way that all persons held as slaves would be freed. Texas was the last Confederate holdout and the United States Colored Troops fought the Battle of Palmetto Ranch in May 1865, considered the last battle of the Civil War. Major Gordon Granger became Military Governor of Texas and published General Order #3, stating that all federal laws applied, including the Emancipation Proclamation. The United States Colored Troops had gained freedom for all.

Reference:

Hill, L. (2008). The story behind Juneteenth: From war to freedom. Retrieved November 25, 2008, from the National Public Radio (NPR) website at http://www.npr.org/programs/tmm/2008/06/Juneteenth/index.html.

For more information on the Spirit of Freedom memorial and its sculptor, Ed Hamilton, go to http://www.edhamiltonworks.com/spirit_of_freedom.htm

Juneteenth in 2008

Juneteenth 2008 celebrations in Pennsylvania:

Lancaster: June 21, Bethel Harambee Historical Services

Philadelphia: June 14, Temple of the Black mesiah, New African Spiritualists

New Kensington: June 14-15, Alle-Kiski Cultural Enrichment Center

Bedford: June 21, Bedford UGRR

Harrisburg: June 21, Neighborhood Center

TIME article

Click on the photo to check out a TIME magazine article about the history of Juneteenth:

Lesson Plan

Renee Linnen created this lesson plan for celebrating Juneteenth in your classroom on the website HotChalk:

Title - Juneteenth Day
By - Renee Linnen
Primary Subject - Social Studies
Secondary Subjects - Language Arts, Computers / Internet
Grade Level - all

Aim:

Students will present end results of their research on the end of slavery in the Western hemisphere at a Juneteenth end of school year celebration.

Background:

Juneteenth is an official holiday in several U.S. states and is growing in popularity both nationally and globally. Juneteenth is the celebration of the end of slavery; the last place to abolish slavery in the United States was Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865, two-and-one-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863. There are several theories why emancipation came so much later to Galveston, and those theories are some of the topics that students will discover as they research the end of slavery in the Western Hemisphere.

Procedure:

• Classes/students can be grouped by area - United States, South America, Central America, Caribbean, and Canada in their search for what has happened to the people from the African Diaspora.
• They will research slavery and how it ended in each area, they will prepare a creative presentation of their choosing (exhibits, posters, costumes, artifacts, models, dances, skits, PowerPoint, poetry, art displays, etc.) of African-American, African-Canadian, etc. culture (food, dress, song, dance, folklore, cultural customs) and they will create appropriate maps and flags.
• Presentations are followed by a big traditional barbecue celebration to celebrate diversity and end the school year.

Reference: Linnen, R. "Juneteenth Day." HotChalk, Inc. Retrieved from here.

Comfort Food

How About Some Warm Ginger-Cake to Celebrate JUNETEENTH ?

In honor of Juneteenth 2001, National Public Radio (NPR) featured a commentary and recipe to stir bittersweet memories of how food played a role in the history of slavery.

Quoted from the website: http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2001/jun/010619.juneteenth.html

Culinary anthropologist Vertamae Grosvenor recalls how food--or lack of it--figured in slave life. "Imagine planting, harvesting, cooking, curing, canning, smelling, seving foods that were not for you," says Grosvenor. And then, thanks to Juneteenth, "Imagine freedom--after centuries of stirring the pot for others, you could do it for yourself."

In his autobiography Up From Slavery, educator Booker T. Washington recalls how, as a young slave, he had watched "two of my young mistresses and some lady visitors eating ginger-cakes... Those cakes seemed to me to be absolutely the most tempting and desirable things that I had ever seen; and I then and there resolved that if I ever got free, the height of my ambition" would be to eat such cakes.

Vertamae Grosvenor re-dedicated this previously created recipe to Booker T. Washington in honor of Juneteenth:

Booker T. Washington Ginger-Cake

½ cup butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

½ cup molasses

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground ginger

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13 baking dish with butter.

Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat together until creamy. Stir in the molasses. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger into a medium bowl. Divide the flour mixture into 3 batches. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares.

Makes one 9-by-13 inch cake; serves 10.

Reference:

Grosvenor, V. (2001). Juneteenth: The taste of freedom. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from the National Public Radio (NPR) website at http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2001/jun/010619.juneteenth.html.

Find Out More About JUNETEENTH

http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/juneteenth/a/juneteenth.htm
A little bit of history, suggested readings and related articles about Juneteenth

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/holidays/juneteenth.htm

This is a great site with links to information on many social studies subjects. Learn the importance of Juneteenth, more about slavery and link to local celebrations.

http://www.juneteenth.com/welcome.htm

This is the granddaddy of Juneteenth websites. There are celebration ideas for home, community, and workplace. Find links to history, worldwide celebrations, poetry, a Juneteenth Store, and even a presidential message from George W. Bush!

Kids' Craft to Celebrate Juneteenth

Many families decorate their homes with red banners and

feature red foods in their Juneteenth holiday picnics and barbecues.

Red stands for the blood that people shed as slaves.

Make a Paper Chain to remember the important ideas

celebrated on the Juneteenth holiday!

Supplies:
Red construction paper
Scissors
Ruler
Pencil
Crayons or markers
Glue stick

1. On the piece of paper, use a ruler to mark off 1-inch strips. Cut the strips.

2. With a crayon or marker, print words on the strips that are important to remember on Juneteenth. Some ideas are "freedom," "hopes," "slavery," and "goals."

3. Form one of the strips into a circle and glue the ends together.

4. Form the next circle and loop it into the first circle. Glue the ends. Repeat until all of the strips are connected. Make the chain as long as you want by adding more strips.

5. Share the words on your chain, and tell friends why they are important ideas to remember!

Reference:
Preszler, J. (2007). Juneteenth: Jubilee for freedom. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.

Stamp of Approval

Join a historic quest! The National Registry of Juneteenth Organizations & Supporters encourages the U.S. Postal Service to issue an official stamp to commemorate Juneteenth. Show your support and help the dream come true at http://www.juneteenth.com/juneteenth_petition.htm

Book List

Juneteenth Books
Abernathy, Francis Edward [Editor]. Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore. Texas A & M University. 1996.

Barrett, Anna Pearl. Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom in Texas. Enslow Publishing Inc. 1999.

Collins, Izola. Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started. Lightning Source Inc. 2004.

Douglass, Frederick. My Bondage and My Freedom. 1855.

Ellison, Ralph. Juneteenth. Random House. 1999.

Jordan, Denise M. Juneteenth. Heinemann/Raintree. 2003.

Leeper, Angela. Juneteenth: A Day to Celebrate Freedom from Slavery. Enslow Publishing Inc. 2004.

Levy, Janey. Juneteenth: Celebrating the End of Slavery. Powerkids Press. 2003.

Neslon, Vaunda Micheaux; Nelson, Drew; Schroder, Mark. Juneteenth. Lerner Publishing Group. 2005.

Preszler, June. Juneteenth: Jubillee for Freedom. Capstone Press Inc. 2006.

Rinaldi, Ann. Come Juneteenth. Powell’s Books. 2007.

Rosinsky, Natalie M. Juneteenth. Capstone Press Inc. 2004.

Taylor, Charles A. Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom. Open Hand Publishing Llc. 2002.

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Celebremos Juneteenth. Lee & Low Books. 2007.

Weatherford, Carole Boston. Juneteenth Jamboree. Lee & Low Books. 2007.

Juneteenth

Welcome to Diane Wotasek's and Patty Diaz's blogspot about the celebration of Juneteenth. This blog is created for a Library Science class, Multicultural Sources and Services, through Clarion University of PA. Our goal for this assignment is to provide reading lists, links, and ideas for information and celebration of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth is a world-wide celebration of the day that all slaves were freed in America on June 19th. The last place to free slaves was Galveston, Texas in 1865, two years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. There are many different theories as to why it took so long for the slaves of this town to be freed, such as that the slave owners withheld the information, the messenger was killed, and that there weren't enough Union troops to enforce the Proclamation.

Many churches, organizations, and parks hold celebrations which involve reading of the Proclamation. Organizers of the celebrations hold many events, such as performances, barbecues, games, music, parades, and guest speakers. The purpose of this holiday is to reflect on a time when African-Americans were kept as slaves, and to unite with people from all races to plan for the future of our society. In Pennsylvania, there are celebrations in Philadelphia, Lancaster, New Kensington, Harrisburg, Bedford, Farrell, Williamsport, and other areas.