Celebrating Juneteenth 2020

The June program page has information on the status of Trails of History sites and lists some virtual programs. It also contains a full list of links to Trails of History Facebook pages so that you can continue to enjoy our digital offerings. You'll also find some of those offerings in the Trailheads Rec Room (see links in the sidebar to the right of your screen). 

On June 19, 1865, Union troops reached Galveston, Texas, ending Confederate control and bringing the Emancipation Proclamation into effect, ending slavery for nearly 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas. Juneteenth was celebrated by these newly freed Texans to mark the end of slavery in the U.S. and, over 150 years later, continues as a celebration of freedom. In 2019, Governor Tom Wolf signed legislation making Juneteenth a state holiday in Pennsylvania (see this year's statement from the Governor's office).

The Manor House (left) and outbuildings as seen from the nature trail at Pennsbury Manor (photo by Lynsey Lehr via Facebook)

Juneteenth on the Trails of History

As with just about everything else related to history and museums these days, Juneteenth 2020 celebrations are happening online, most scheduled for today and the rest of the weekend. Pennsbury Manor and the African American Museum of Bucks County (AAMBC) had planned an on-site program to mark the occasion, but have turned to Zoom to offer a virtual event this afternoon at 4 pm. For more than 20 years, staff has been researching and interpreting the presence of enslaved Black people at Pennsbury. Earlier this year, with a grant from the Living History Centre in Novato, California, Pennsbury staff began working with Philadelphia-area playwright and performer Marissa Kennedy to develop and present a first-person interpretation of Susannah Warder. Kennedy's presentation is designed to engage school students (and others) with Warder as she tends to the laundry and talks about life as an enslaved person at Pennsbury. Marissa Kennedy will present this new interpretation as part of the Juneteenth virtual event. The program, which features other historical presentations from AAMBC and Pennsbury, will take place live via Zoom (see Facebook event for details) and will also be recorded for later viewing.

This laundry scene from the visitor center exhibit at Pennsbury tells the story of Jack (enslaved at Pennsbury) and his wife, Parthenia (enslaved in Philadelphia). Pennsbury's museum educator, Mary Ellyn Kunz, worked with Historic Hudson Valley (HHV) on an emotionally powerful video portrayal of Jack and Parthenia's story, which you can (and should) watch on HHV's website. 

On the Pennsylvania Military Museum's blog today, site administrator Tyler Gum shares stories of the U.S. Colored Troop (USCT) during the American Civil War, with a focus on soldiers with Pennsylvania connections. (Find the full blog post on PMM's website.)

"In 1863 General Orders 143 established the US Colored Troop. By this time, there existed two units, however this Order made such service officially recognized. Pennsylvania brought forth eleven USCT units, using Camp William Penn as the training grounds. Camp William Penn was located in Cheltenham Township (near Philadelphia) from 1863 to 1865. Pictured [below] is the PHMC Historical Marker and original camp gate. This Camp is most notable for being the first such designated camp for USCT in the Army. It is reported that more than 10,000 free and escaped enslaved men trained here. This figure includes 8,612 Pennsylvanians – the most of any Northern State."

This gate marks the entrance to Camp William Penn with PHMC historical marker to the right (marker text and more info)

More Juneteenth Virtual Celebrations and Online Resources

• African American Historical Society of South Central PA, Lebanon Valley College associate professor of history Michael Schroeder will discuss David Blight's biography of Frederick Douglass, June 21
• African American Museum of Philadelphia, Juneteenth 2020 Virtual Festival, June 20
• Black Scranton Project, Juneteenth Jubilee - Black Lives Matter Celebration, June 19
• National Museum of African American History and Culture, Juneteenth: A Celebration of Resilience, June 19-20
• Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival, June 20
• Western Pennsylvania Juneteenth Celebration, Juneteenth FB Live Freedom Day Walk (virtual walking tour of historic sites in Pittsburgh), June 19 (see Facebook page for additional Juneteenth events next week)
• Penn State Libraries, Juneteenth Resources List
• And if you're on Twitter, you can follow #VirtualJuneteenth for more

Ongoing Responsibilities for Our History

The June program page has information on the status of Trails of History sites and lists some virtual programs. It also contains a full list of links to Trails of History Facebook pages so that you can continue to enjoy our digital offerings. You'll also find some of those offerings in the Trailheads Rec Room (see links in the sidebar to the right of your screen); new material is added weekly so that you can see the most recent examples.

Last week's post, "Time to Listen and Think," contains a far-from-exhaustive list of resources for those wanting to learn more about anti-racism, history, and museums. I'll add another that became available this week: the American Alliance of Museums has shared the recording of a conversation that took place during their virtual conference last week. Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole (National Council of Negro Women Inc. and Baltimore Museum of Art), Lonnie G. Bunch III (14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture), and Lori Fogarty (Oakland Museum of California) spoke together about "Racism, Unrest, and the Role of the Museum Field." On a related note, this week the Smithsonian announced the receipt of a $25 million grant in support of their new "Race, Community, and Our Shared Future" initiative (press release from SI website).

PHMC's Trails of History sites are responsible for preserving tangible remains of Pennsylvania history and the stories and people connected to them. Here are a few examples that came up in my news feed this week:

Time to Listen and Think

The June program page has information on the status of Trails of History sites and lists some virtual programs, such as the Railroad Museum's Trivia Night tonight. It also contains a full list of links to Trails of History Facebook pages so that you can continue to enjoy our digital offerings. You'll also find some of those offerings in the Trailheads Rec Room (see links in the sidebar to the right of your screen); new material is added weekly so that you can see the most recent examples.

If you, like me, have a lot to learn about where we find ourselves as a society, to (as Andrew Plumley notes in the piece linked below) "become comfortable with being uncomfortable," there are many places to start. Here are a few:


The Facebook post above is from the National Museum of African American History and Culture and links to their new web portal, "Talking About Race."

Museum Education Roundtable's blog offers a list of ideas and resources.

Andrew Plumley, Director of Inclusion at The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), wrote this advice "For Museum Leaders Who Want to Do Better," but much of it is applicable to any of us, wherever we are.

Museums and Race compiled a reading list for those of us wanting to learn more.

La Tanya Autry and Mike Murawski started the "Museums Are Not Neutral" movement several years ago, and you can read more about that on Autry's Art Stuff Matters blog.

The Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, in an email earlier this week, shared a list of 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice, by Corinne Shutack on the blog, Equality Includes You