Traveling museum highlighting creations of African-American inventors on display on "Juneteenth Day"
MILWAUKEE -- No other American city has celebrated "Juneteenth Day" longer than Milwaukee. "Juneteenth" or "Freedom Day" commemorates when the last slaves were told about the Emancipation Proclamation. Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood hosted the celebration Sunday, June 19th.
According to Juneteenth.com, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation -- which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
"Today is a day of unity, fellowship -- a day of coming together. The day we were emancipated," a Juneteenth Day street festival organizer said.
Thousands turned out for the street festival which stretched for several blocks.
Juneteenth Day street festival in Milwaukee
Juneteenth Day street festival in Milwaukee
In Milwaukee on Sunday was a cultural celebration -- embracing the last 151 years. Inside one storefront in the area were stories as important, but not always heard.
Ujamaa-Nia Museum
"It's about the inventions invented by the African-American people. We have Dr. Charles Drew, who we know as the inventor of the blood bank," Joyce Shabazz said.
Shabazz is the curator and griot of the Ujamaa-Nia Museum -- a traveling exhibit that serves as a testimony to the black ingenuity and resilience.
Joyce Shabazz
"We have the dust pan, we have the biscuit cutter, we the clothes dryer, we have the weight scale," Shabazz said.
On Sunday, Shabazz's exhibit was in the heart of Milwaukee's Juneteenth Day street festival.
"I never knew that my people were this creative," a Juneteenth Day street festival attendee said.
Ujamaa-Nia Museum
Joyce Shabazz
Shabazz and her traveling exhibit allow children and adults to follow threads sewn deep into black history, yet not always on display.
In 2009, then-Governor Jim Doyle signed a bill into law designating "Juneteenth Day" a state holiday in Wisconsin. The bill's authors included Senator Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee native.
Ujamaa-Nia Museum