Although the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, enslaved people in Texas were not told of their freedom until June 19, 1865.
Juneteenth - also known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day - is the oldest known African American celebration commemorating the end of slavery.
Juneteenth Celebrations 2021
To this day, Austinites continue to celebrate Juneteenth. This year’s celebration, Juneteenth 2021: Stay Black and Live Vol. 2, is a citywide Juneteenth festival on Saturday, June 19th, presented by Six Square, CarverMuseumATX, and the Black Austin Coalition, in partnership with Jump On It, the Austin Area Urban League, Austin Justice Coalition, and GEAYA.
The day-long celebration kicks off with a car parade hosted by the Austin Area Urban League and GEAYA. During lunchtime, the 10,000 Fearless First Responders will be distributing free plates to the communities most in need on the East side. Six Square and CarverMuseumATX’s virtual program will start with a panel discussion about the history and celebration of Juneteenth with speakers Dr. Lisa B. Thompson and Dr. Charles Daniel Carson of UT Austin’s African and African Diaspora Studies department and moderated by Carre Adams, manager of the Carver Museum. Freedom Desk, a music and spoken word performance series, will feature artists from the Austin/Travis County area. The lineup includes Riders Against the Storm, Eimaral Sol, Melat, Chakeeta B, and more. During the evening, the party will continue at Rosewood Park with a live afterparty hosted by Jump On It and GEAYA. The night will end with a fireworks show by the Austin Justice Coalition. Learn more and register to attend here.
On Sunday, June 20th, the Juneteenth Freedom Hike will take place on the Barton Creek Greenbelt (Spyglass Trailhead) starting at 10:45 a.m. Celebrating forefathers on Father’s Day, the hike is sponsored by the World Walker Foundation, which exposes Black youth to outdoor adventures and global travel to help them better understand the world and themselves. Learn more and register to attend here.
The History of Juneteenth & Pease Park
Juneteenth is significant for our country, our state, our city, and for Pease Park. Core to our mission at Pease Park Conservancy is to ensure that the park is accessible and inclusive and feels welcoming to all Austinites. We understand that we have work to do to make sure that we are accomplishing that goal and we must understand and share the history of this park land in relation to enslavement, segregation, and exclusion.
Research into the history of Pease Park has identified that Governor Elisha Pease was loyal to the Union during the Civil War, while also being an enslaver over a period of several decades. After Emancipation, and after Governor and Mrs. Lucadia Pease donated a portion of their land to the City of Austin for public use, formerly enslaved Austinites formed freedom colonies and lived for generations near Pease Park and along Shoal Creek. These communities include Clarksville, Kincheonvillle, the Wood Street Settlement at Shoal Creek, and Wheatville. These Austinites swam in Shoal Creek, explored its banks, and held Juneteenth celebrations in the Pease Park area for decades.
However, the system of slavery was replaced with new systems designed to segregate and disenfranchise Austin’s Black community. The freed communities were not allowed to find stability and economic opportunity because of “separate but equal” laws that were taking hold across the country. The Austin City Council took segregation a step further with the adoption of the Austin City Plan of 1928. This plan created a “negro district” on the east side of what is now I-35 and made significant investments in the development of the west side of town, with schools, parks, and public facilities identified as “for whites only.” The intended and realized result was a racially segregated city. As Black Austinites were forced to move to East Austin, white land speculators and developers only paid pennies on the dollar for their land and homes that they were forced to leave behind.
Pease Park Conservancy’s Interpretive Plan
Pease Park Conservancy recently worked in partnership with the Austin Parks & Recreation Department (PARD) and specialists from MuseWork and RECLAIM to create the Pease Park Interpretive Plan. This plan has provided the Conservancy with a framework for interpretation in the park for the next five years. One of the themes identified in the plan is related to honoring Black history in Pease Park by recognizing the park’s connection to enslavement, segregation, and exclusion. Our next step is to hire a Facilitator to obtain community input, feedback, stories, and perspectives that will guide us in doing so. Interested consultants can find the Request for Proposals for this position here. The broader community-wide engagement process will begin later this year.