Celebrate Juneteenth At Atlanta History Center With Free Admission Weekend
There are several free activities to take part in in during the Juneteenth celebration at the Atlanta History Center this weekend.
Courtesy of the Atlanta History Center
On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas learned they were free.
This revelation came two years after the Emancipation Proclamation and marked the end of slavery in the United States. The people of Texas celebrated the news and created a national holiday called Juneteenth.
The Atlanta History Center is offering two days of Juneteenth programming this weekend. The admission is free, and center explores themes of freedom and family history through theatrical performances and activities.
The center’s director of museum theater, Addae Moon, and director of oral history and genealogy, Sue VerHoef, joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to discuss their observance of June 19, 1865.
Moon wrote a play for the weekend’s programming called “The Order of Freedom.” The play is about General Order No. 3 and when it was issued in Texas alerting the enslaved that they were free.
“A part of the general order was that they [the newly freed slaves] were going to take the land from the plantation owners, so that would have made it impossible. There’s a lot of misconceptions about Juneteenth,” Moon said.
In 2011, Georgia became the 37th state to recognize Juneteenth at its state Capitol.
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