Juneteenth : Passion and Perseverance

The City of New Rochelle will recognize Juneteenth with a city-wide celebration at several venues on Saturday, June 19^th.

Juneteenth – Passion and Perseverance is being organized by The Lincoln Park Conservancy, Inc. with support from the City of New Rochelle.

The daylong celebration will include a dance performance, tai chi demonstration, historic lecture and breakfast nibbles at Ward Acres Community Garden from 9 am to 11 am, a ceremonial flag raising with dance, music and spoken word performances at City Hall from 12 to 2 pm, and family-friendly activities — including a scavenger hunt and crafts — at the Thomas Paine Cottage from 3 to 6 pm. In addition, the New Rochelle Council on the Arts’ Rotunda Gallery at City Hall will present a special exhibition, Juneteenth: A Narrative of Freedom, all month, and the New Rochelle Public Library will have special book displays on site and a reading list of books about Juneteenth available.

Last fall Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law legislation (S.8598/A.10628) designating Juneteenth as an official public holiday in New York State. The new law celebrates Juneteenth, a day which commemorates the end to slavery and celebrates Black and African American freedom and achievements. The significance of the date is historic: Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865. Although slavery had been abolished in the United States in 1863 with the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, Confederate states, like Texas, refused to acknowledge the law of the land. On June 19, 1865 Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform all Texans that slavery had been abolished and proclaim “an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves.”

Thereafter Juneteenth —  also known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Liberation Day – was celebrated in Texas with family-centered festivities that included cookouts, family reunions, historical plays, musical performances and exhibitions.

For more information about the Juneteenth celebration email ltrgroup1@aol.com.