Juneteenth

Event
June 19, 2009 (5:30 pm-7:00 pm)
Library Company of Philadelphia
http://www.librarycompany.org/events/index.htm

Join us at the Library Company on Friday, June 19th for our Juneteenth Freedom Forum, featuring three area scholars discussing the African American struggle for freedom in the era of the Civil War and beyond.

 

Dr. Robert Francis Engs, Professor of History (retired) University of Pennsylvania, “Who Freed the Slaves? The black Revolutionary Struggle for Freedom.”

 

Dr. Elizabeth Varon, Professor of History and Associate Director, Center for the Humanities, Temple University, “From Appomattox to Juneteenth: Lee’s Defeat and the End of Slavery.”

 

Dr. Randall M. Miller, Professor of History, St. Joseph’s University, “Juneteenth, Before and After: African American Freedom Celebrations, Historical Memory, and Contemporary Activism.”

 

“Juneteenth” commemorates June19th, 1865, when Union forces occupying Texas first formally announced to the slaves that they were free under the Emancipation Proclamation. June 19th instantly became an African American day of celebration, spreading throughout the country in the ensuing years. In recent times, Juneteenth has grown to encompass freedom celebrations among both whites and blacks in numerous states and cities, commemorated by programs such as this.

 

This event is the Library Company’s third annual Juneteenth commemoration, sponsored by our Program in African American History with support from The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. Reception at 5:30 p.m., program at 6:00. The event is open to the public free of charge, but seating is limited and advance registration is requested. To register, phone 215-546-3181, or e-mail lpropst@librarycompany.org.

 

caption to image: View of Transparency in Front of Headquarters of Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments  . . . in Commemoration of Emancipation in Maryland, November 1, 1864. Wood engraving (Philadelphia: Ringwalt and Brown, 1864).