Sweltering heat and threatening storms didn’t subdue the spirit of participants in the second Juneteenth celebration last Saturday, held in the field across from the Charles Sumner Post #25 on Queen Street.
Laced with conversations about the Charleston tragedy, the event, commemorating freedom from slavery, evoked an additional sense of poignancy.
The 2015 Juneteenth celebration was sponsored by the Kent County Arts Council and co-hosted with Music in the Park.
Juneteenth is the oldest known commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States and is celebrated throughout the country every June 19th.
Almost non-stop music, featuring the Vaughn Bratcher Project and others, became the backdrop for the event, whose centerpieces were keynote speaker, Dr. Clara Small, and the march to Memorial Park to ly a wreath in honor of African-Americans who served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War.
The return of the Buffalo soldiers and reenactors of B Company, 54th Massachusetts Infantry set the visual tone of the event, with vendors offering a fish fry, soul food, and crabcakes— something for everyone.
For more information about the Charles Sumner Post go here.
In the spirit of the Spy’s archival and curatorial role of showcasing important town history, we are presenting Dr. Small’s talk in its entirety. It is audio-only file, and about 30 minutes long. It’s well worth a listen.
Images by Leslie Raimond. Audio recording by Butch Clark. This recording is part of the permanent audio collection at the Charles Sumner Post (GAR).
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