Remembering Juneteenth

For the past several days, our Bay Path community has been sharing the history of Juneteenth in elementary classrooms in Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, Longmeadow, and other towns and cities.

Through our reading experiences, we have passed on the significance of Juneteenth and introduced a new generation to an event that has been celebrated by Black Americans for over 150 years.  Today, Juneteenth is part of our national narrative, allowing us to have a deeper understanding of our country’s complex past.

And like the young students we met, we must also expand our own knowledge of Juneteenth.  In this spirit, I invite you to visit and pass on to others the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s special website celebration of Juneteenth.  This comprehensive exploration of Juneteenth also includes a historical compilation of rare film footage, and I am sharing one from the archives showing a 1925 celebration in Beaumont, Texas. (Yale Beinecke Collection). 

As we commemorate this important day in our nation’s history, we are reminded that freedom is fragile, requiring us to continuously strive to nurture and protect the promise of equality for all.  We must be ever mindful of the words of Coretta Scott King: “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.”

Sincerely,
Sandra J. Doran, J.D.
President