Guest Contributor
Hundreds of people attended the inaugural Juneteenth Festival at the Penn Museum Saturday under sunny skies and mild temperatures perfect for the activities, performances, and workshops centered in two outdoor courtyards.
The celebration commemorated the importance of June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas finally learned they were free, more than two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln.
Juneteenth was recognized as an official federal holiday by President Joe Biden in 2021 and a state holiday by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in 2019. Several Juneteenth events were held in Philadelphia during the weekend.
The family friendly Juneteenth Festival, created in collaboration with the Philadelphia nonprofit Forum Philly, was the first of what organizers and partners hope will be an annual tradition and a way to encourage visitors year-round. An estimated 800 people attended.
In public remarks, Malcolm T. Byrd, founding president and chief executive of Forum Philly, said, “Juneteenth is worthy of observance and celebration, to be able to embody as an American holiday that speaks to the very soul of our ideals of democracy, for the essence of liberty and freedom, and a resolve to resist every effort that would oppress and cause injustice to happen amongst the American people.”
This story was written by Louisa Shepard. To read the full article, please visit Penn Today.