Bedford Juneteenth: An Interview with Andromeda Turre, Chairperson of the Bedford IDEA Committee

Excerpt from an interview with Andromeda Turre, Chairperson of the Bedford IDEA Committee conducted on April 7, 2022 by Aaron Paige. 

Aaron Paige (AP):
What is the origin story behind Bedford’s Juneteenth celebration?

Andromeda Turre (AT):
I joined Bedford’s IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) Committee first as a volunteer, and then in 2021, I was promoted to Vice Chair. It happened in the beginning of the year in January. I was speaking with Dr. Jill Becker who is now our Vice Chair, and we were talking about Juneteenth and I said, we’ve got to do a Juneteenth here! A lot of people in Bedford didn’t know what Juneteenth was or why we should be celebrating it. At the time, MaryAnn Carr was our Supervisor and she was very supportive of us doing this. So our committee decided to produce a Juneteenth celebration and what it triggered was a big research project, finding local African American history and the history of enslavement in the town of Bedford. We were able to find such a rich history. We found an African American man who was born free in Bedford, who fought in the revolutionary war. We interviewed the son of the first Black woman to sit on the Board of Ed in the 1960s. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like. We also found the names of around 20 people who were enslaved, right here in Bedford. Some were just listed as “man” or “woman.” Their names weren’t even listed. From a town that has this kind of history, it made it even more important to shine a light on this. When I think of the enslaved, I think of people who really helped to build this town. These were people who were working the lands, they were craftsmen, they were skilled workers. They were helping to build roads and farms and care for people. And so they are a part of the history of this town too. I feel that Juneteenth is important to honoring the work they did, and not by choice. To honor their labor and to celebrate them.

AP:
Where did you conduct your research? At the town historical society? With a local historian?

AT:
We have a town historian. We have a historical society. They didn’t have a lot in terms of the Black history of Bedford. There was really nothing. So we went digging. Since they were treated as property, they were heavily documented – where they were purchased and sold. And so we were able to find a lot of those records. A lot of our churches had history. Antioch Baptist Church has been around for 127 years. There was a lot of history there that we included. In terms of enslavement, there is also the John Jay Estate, which had some documents. Even at the Bedford Presbyterian Church, we found some very interesting things even in the Church minutes from the 1920s. It was post slavery, but it was still important early history of Bedford. The Bedford Historical Society did a Black History Month display this year, which was really exciting. Next we are going to work with the Historical Society to interview more Black elders in our community and start to close the gap in the history. Last year we only went up to the 1960’s in our history. Now we want to document the history from 1960 to the present day. We are working on creating a pamphlet of the Black history of Bedford, something that the schools can use if they want to. There is so much written on the history of white residents here. To be able to also offer a history of Black residents, I felt, was important and it’s spawned a whole big project in our town.

AP:
This is amazing. A very necessary critical intervention, filling in the gaps of history. And as you were saying before, it’s not uncommon, for small towns and villages to not know, to not recognize, and not acknowledge Black history and the history of enslavement. How did you make this history available to the public and how was it received within the Bedford community?

AT:
Really warm. People were excited to know this history. There are a lot of people in Bedford that are very interested in the history here. It’s one of the reasons that they love living here. To find out that there was more history that they could sink their teeth into was very exciting. For the Black community, it felt very special to be recognized and to be included. Now we are working on how to keep presenting this history through the Historical Society. We’ll see where it goes from here and what we’re able to do.

AP:
Clearly you and others put a lot of effort into the research and digging through archives. It sounds like a lot of work.

AT:
There was a huge team. It wasn’t just me. Our former Chair, Desiree Meineck, was a leader and champion of this history. And we had several volunteers, people with architectural backgrounds and historical backgrounds that gave of their time to make this happen.

AP:
Are there components of the Bedford Juneteenth celebration that you are particularly excited about?

AT:
Last year, I was just excited that we had our first Juneteenth celebration. I was excited that we were able to bring African artists and African American culture to the stage in a performative way, in different facets. We had an African percussionist that not only performed, but also spoke about the history of the drums and how they were used and how they were made and the story behind the rhythms so that it gave people context for the rhythms that they were hearing. I thought that was really powerful. We had the African dancers. And then we had a band that played a blend of gospel and Jazz music, which is all from our history and from our music. I was proud to be able to include all of that musical language in last year’s Juneteenth. And it was also important for me to read the names of those who had been enslaved in our town. 

AP:

What are your plans for Juneteenth 2022? 

AT: 

This year’s Bedford Juneteenth is being hosted at Caramoor. They’ve been an incredible partner on this, helping us to facilitate something that is really beyond my wildest dreams of what we could do for a Juneteenth celebration. I was brought into the fold with Caramoor by Nina Curley and it’s been under the gracious leadership of President Edward J. Lewis, that I was able to work closely with Adina Williams and Kathy Schuman, without whom we could not have created this year’s incredible immersive Juneteenth experience.

This year we are going to have a movement station and an art station, in addition to a performance. As part of the art station, I wanted to dig into the history of quilting and how we used freedom symbols on quilts in connection to the underground railroad. Quilters from Antioch Baptist church will be making a quilt that will be interactive. Kids will be able to put pieces on it and write with fabric markers. It’ll be a collaborative quilt. We will also be including the names of those that were enslaved here into that quilt. Last year we were able to read their names. This year, the names will be put onto this collaborative quilt which will then hang in our town hall in order to acknowledge the enslaved. To remember them. And to respect them. That is one way we are building on last year. In collaboration with the Katonah Museum of Art, we are also offering a paper craft based on those same freedom symbols. That way the kids will have something they can take home. It’s going to be amazing. That’s the art station. Then we’re also having a movement station. We will have double dutch because that’s a fun part of Black culture and we’ll be explaining a little of the history. There will also be a lady teaching step routines. If you just want to come and listen to the stories and hear the music, we have an incredible vocalist Jeremiah Abiah – he’s an incredible songwriter and vocalist and he’s going to perform. There will be some powerful speakers interspersed throughout his performance. He will do a full set after the speakers finish as well. So, if you just want to come for that, you can come for that. But if you want to engage in art or movement we are making it a whole experience. The gates will open at three o’clock and the performance will start at four, so there will be time for people to experience these different things. This year, because Juneteenth falls on Father’s Day, we will be pairing Caramoor’s sound art tours with a history of important Black men that were fathers in Westchester. It will be a Black dad history lesson of Westchester, interspersed with the sound art installation. We are going to have a lot of different parts that engage different levels of the culture, while still making our Juneteenth specific to Westchester, and Bedford.

I’m really most excited about the quilt and having this intergenerational experience. The women from Antioch Church will be making the quilt and interacting with the youth, teaching them this skill, talking to them about this craft, showing them how it’s done and sharing this history. I’m really excited about creating this intergenerational conversation and also having the names of those who helped build this town in town hall. That’s what I’m most excited about. 

This Juneteenth Celebration is really an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to come together, immerse themselves in Black culture, enjoy some beautiful music and family friendly activities and remember and explore the ongoing endeavor towards justice, general welfare and the Blessings of Liberty.

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