Location
Juneteenth Grove
Cadman Plaza Park
Healing Medicine Grows Wild Here
Yarrow—the wise one. Growing tall with clustered halos
of white, pink, and sometimes yellow, soft fronds for
wound care and slowing the bleeding.
Joyful Memories Remain Here
A praise break with wildflowers to soak up the healing medicines of echinacea and yarrow, feel the sun, and sing a song. We remember the countless abolitionists who fought for and held on tight to freedom.
FOUNDING FREEDOM
The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed enslaved individuals in the United States. However, the country was still in the midst of the Civil War, and official announcements of the end of slavery were not delivered until 1865 in some parts of the United States.
Before Juneteenth became a federal holiday, it was an African American celebration recognizing the history and impact of slavery in America. The first Juneteenth celebration was held in Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865, when Union Officer Granger delivered the declaration of the end of slavery in that community. The people of Galveston celebrated the legal end of centuries of legalized horror.
Prior to the Civil War, African Americans showed little enthusiasm for July 4th. However, in 1865 following the newly commenced Juneteenth, African Americans (especially in the South) celebrated like never before. Unfortunately, in some places, Juneteenth became a celebration when African Americans were ostracized or harassed for publicly commemorating the event. The community significance of Juneteenth could not be silenced, and public gatherings from Texas to Pennsylvania upheld the tradition that started in Galveston. In 2020, Juneteenth became a federal holiday due to national tensions around police brutality.
Juneteenth Grove remembers the national African-American-led fight for freedom. It speaks to the influential African Americans who worked tirelessly to abolish enslavement and advance systematically oppressed people. At the height of slavery in New York, 1 in 3 Brooklyn residents were African American, and most were enslaved. Brooklyn was transformed from farmland to a center of industry because it was once the largest slave-holding county in New York State. African American people lived in communities like Downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO, where organizations like the Brooklyn African Woolman Benevolent Society and churches like the Brooklyn African Methodist Episcopal Church became the foundation for private and free schools for African American children, the construction of intentional African American communities in Williamsburg and Crown Heights, and well-organized abolitionist groups.
“The First Juneteenth.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 2 June 2023, nmaahc.si.edu/juneteenth#:~:text=On%20June%2019%2C%201865%2C%20nearly,as%20Juneteenth%20or%20Freedom%20Day.