Trending
HUNTINGDON – In seven years, the borough’s Juneteenth Celebration has developed into a homecoming and a history lesson.
“This is the history that’s never told in schools,” said Anita Nwaobilo of Huntingdon, who worked with Joan Rogers of Mount Union to introduce an African-American fashion show to the event. “And this is a way for people to get to know about it.”
Many communities in the nation recognized Saturday with a Juneteenth Celebration to commemorate the end of slavery. Their activities were planned in remembrance of June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and to read an order freeing 250,000 slaves living in that state. Rogers, who has attended other Juneteenth Celebrations, said Huntingdon’s event draws more people every year.
“This one has really grown,” Rogers said. “And it has taught people about Juneteenth, something many of them had no clue about before we got started.”
This year’s event included music, entertainment, children’s activities and a guest appearance by NFL Super Bowl champion and former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Marques Colston, who visited with family and provided some autographed items to be auctioned.
“Any event that brings together a community seems like a positive thing,” Colston said.
Dianne McDaniel said she and Colston’s mother, Josie, used to be neighbors in Mount Union, and they both moved away. McDaniel, who later returned to Mount Union and subsequently became involved with planning the annual event, asked her former neighbor if her son and family would attend.
“I think they’re going to go visit the old homestead tomorrow,” McDaniel said.
Carmella Lear of Shirleysburg, formerly of Mount Union, said she brought her 13-year-old grandson, Vincent, to give him a chance to learn more about the event.
“I know I learned more by coming to my first, second and third Juneteenth,” Lear said.
But that’s not Lear’s only reason for attending.
“It’s really nice because I’m seeing a lot of people I grew up with,” she said. “Some of the people here, I know their parents or grandparents.”