Juneteenth festivities planned for Glencoe, Evanston, Skokie
Juneteenth celebrations, including parades, festivals and educational opportunities, are scheduled for Evanston, Skokie and Glencoe around mid-June.
Juneteenth, sometimes called Emancipation Day, officially takes place on June 19 and commemorates the day when enslaved people in Texas finally gained freedom after the Civil War.
'Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until…June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas,' according to the National Museum of African American History.
Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021. North suburban celebrations are planned as follows.
Skokie, June 14
Skokie's Juneteenth Celebration, organized by the group Skokie United, is scheduled for Saturday, June 14 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Oakton Park, 4701 Oakton Street, Skokie. Local acts Corey Bless and Tony Garrett will be performing.
Admission and parking for the celebration are free, with food available from local Black-owned business vendors like Babito's Bites, Soul Good Coffee and Koala's Kitchen.
Skokie United's President Brian Williams spoke at the June 4 Village Board meeting, accepting a proclamation read in honor of Juneteenth.
'June 19th is really historic and important because we don't always recognize African Americans in our community. We recognize cultural differences, we recognize a lot of things, but sometimes just don't point out 'Let's recognize the Black Americans in our community,'' Williams said.
Evanston, June 21
Evanston's Juneteenth Parade is scheduled to step off from Dodge Avenue and Dempster Street at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 21. The parade will head north and turn east on Simpson Street and end at the Evanston Civic Center at 2100 Ridge Avenue.
Local organizations, schools, nonprofits, marching groups, the Jesse White Tumblers, South Shore Drill Team and more are expected to join the parade.
The festivities will continue at Ingraham Park from noon to 4 p.m. An event titled A Divine Nine Juneteenth Legacy Celebration will include art, music, culture and food.
More information on Evanston's Juneteenth Parade and celebration can be found online.
Glencoe, June 24
Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton's office is coordinating with Cook County Against Hate for an educational event at the Glencoe Historical Society on June 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. titled 'Juneteenth: The Quest for Freedom,' according to Britton's Deputy Chief of Staff Elizabeth Polmanski. The event will focus on former Underground Railroad stops in Cook County.
With enough room for 45 attendees, the program will begin with a tour of the historical society's 'Glencoe's Black Heritage' exhibit. At 7 p.m., the program continues with a lecture from historian and author Larry McClellan, an expert on the Underground Railroad, according to Polmanski.
The Glencoe Historical Society, located at 375 Park Avenue, debuted its 'Glencoe's Black Heritage' exhibit in 2022.
Last year, the historical society stripped the name of Sherman Booth from the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Sherman Booth Cottage because research showed Sherman Booth had written racist real estate covenants about a century ago to prevent Blacks and Italians from buying homes in Glencoe. Booth was, among other things, the attorney of famed architect Wright. It has been renamed the Ravine Bluffs Cottage.
In 2024, the society received a Leadership in History Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History.
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