Credit: Petra Chesner Schlatter
“Juneteenth – Celebrating Freedom!” will take place Saturday, June 18 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of the First Baptist Church of Langhorne, 215 East Richardson Ave. in Langhorne Borough.
The rain date is Saturday, June 25. Part of East Richardson Ave. will be closed for the event.
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“This is the oldest known celebration in this country, commemorating the ending of slavery, which dates back to June 19, 1865,” said Brenda Cowan, coordinator of the “Juneteenth Celebration” Committee.
“I want to educate all people of the rainbow about black history,” she said.
The committee is comprised of many residents whose families go back for generations in the Langhorne Borough community.
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Featured at the celebration will be live reenactments by “The Buffalo Soldiers” and Harriet Tubman. She will be portrayed by Louise Davis of Bristol, a descendant of Tubman.
Also featured at the event will be The Back Bench Boys of 2nd Baptist Church of Doylestown. “They are great Gospel Singers,” Cowan said.
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Other performers will entertain the attendees, including the “Camden Sophisticated Sister’s Drill Team.”
There will be vendors showing and selling their own merchandise. Food vendors will sell from bar-b-que to sweet desserts.
Cowan is a life-long resident of Langhorne Borough.
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“I came up with the idea in August 2015 to educate people about African American history,” she said. “I was going to different events and asking African Americans, ‘Do you know what ‘Juneteenth’ is?’ Hardly anyone knew what it was.”
Cowan said that was very discouraging to her because African American history is not being taught enough in the schools. “African American history involves more than Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, although they are extremely significant people in the U.S. civil rights movement,” she said.
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“It’s going to be a very educational and fun event,” Cowan said. Mr. Robert Wright will give a slide show presentation on African-American history.
Members of the “Juneteenth” Committee have arranged to install a gateway to an African American Historical Cemetery in Bucks County.
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Committee members are: Stan Griffin, Harvey Spencer, Gerlyn Williford, Sandy Harris, Maurice Charles and Cowan.
“Friends and family of the departed African Americans in Bucks County wish to commemorate their lives by supplying a permanent gateway marker to this forgotten cemetery for which their souls may be honored and remembered,” said Cowan.
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The gateway will be square and about seven feet tall. “What we envisioned was an archway with the name of the graveyard on it and when it was established,” Cowan said.
Fundraising for the gateway marker is being done at www.gofundme.com/g7b4zA3N
The creation of “Juneteenth” was the result of orders given by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, according to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., professor and an expert in African-American history. He noted that when Granger issued an order to establish the Union Army’s authority over the people of Texas, he was also establishing the basis for the holiday, “Juneteenth” (“June” plus “nineteenth.”)
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On June 19, 1865, Granger announced in Texas, “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States [President Abraham Lincoln,] all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between the former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between the employer and hired labor.
“The freedmen,” the order reads, “are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”
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Every slave in the United States was actually freed January 1, 1863, when Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. However, the slaves were not told they were free for 2 ½ years.
“Juneteenth” is an important event for everyone. “Please come and show your support!!” Cowan said.
Contact Brenda Cowan at 215-359-8616 or bebe82155@yahoo.com for general information and about securing a vendor space for $20. Participants must provide their own table.
