Latest news with #USColoredTroops
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'An American holiday': Nashville celebrates Juneteenth with music, dance and more
Gary Burke looked on proudly in his Civil War-era U.S. Colored Troops uniform as Juneteenth festivities unfolded at the Tennessee State Museum. He watched as the Sankofa African Drum and Dance group performed, filling the Great Hall with drum beats while dancers in brightly colored outfits got the crowd clapping and moving along with them. "Juneteenth is not only an African American holiday, it's an American holiday," Burke said. "It's a chance for people from all backgrounds to celebrate emancipation for oppressed people. It's very important that we celebrate together today." Burke said he is the great-great-grandson of Peter Bailey, who was part of Company K in the 17th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops and a veteran of the Battle of Nashville in 1864. Burke has been dressing in full uniform for reenactments for 20 years and had plans to be part of the Juneteenth615 event at Historic Fort Negley later that night. Juneteenth commemorates the day the last group of enslaved people were freed in America. While the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, it took until June 19, 1865, for Union troops to free the last of those enslaved in Galveston, Texas. The holiday has long been celebrated in the Black community. Then-President Joe Biden declared it a federal holiday in 2021, dubbing it Juneteenth National Independence Day. More: What does Juneteenth celebrate? Meaning and origins, explained A few miles away from the Tennessee State Museum, the National Museum of African American Music opened its doors to mark the day. The public was welcomed in for the free event, which included access to the museum's galleries, live performances, interactive art projects for kids, a screening of a special documentary by the Metro Human Relations Commission and a drum circle that visitors could join. Ariel and Whitney Giles-Paul drove from Murfreesboro to attend with their 3-year-old daughter, Journey. They were excited to experience the museum for the first time and learn more about the rich history of African American music. "We just wanted Journey to experience this, too," Whitney Giles-Paul said, as a recording of the Fisk Jubilee singers performing an African spiritual played in the background. This year's Juneteenth celebration comes in a time fraught with worries over President Donald Trump's efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts nationwide. In Tennessee, lawmakers passed the "Dismantling DEI Departments Act" earlier this year. More: Trump DEI attacks have changed how companies celebrate Juneteenth Ariel Giles-Paul said she worried about Juneteenth events, including the one at the museum, being a possible target for violence amid political tension. Pro-immigration and anti-Trump rallies have sprung up in recent days around the country. "Even today, I told (my wife), 'Should we even go? What if something happens?'" she said. "But I'm of the mindset that we just have to keep going and keep persisting. We have to live our life. Plus we have a little one. We have to be good role models for her." Reach reporter Rachel Wegner via email at RAwegner@ You can also find her on Twitter or Bluesky under the handle RachelAnnWegner. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Juneteenth in Nashville: Celebrations include music, dance, history
CBS News
21 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
Pennsylvania museum ensuring thousands of Black Civil War soldiers' legacies not forgotten
As the nation prepares to celebrate Juneteenth, the legacy of thousands of Black Civil War soldiers who once trained in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, will never be forgotten, thanks to the Camp William Penn Museum. Nestled away inside a small, unassuming garage in Cheltenham are powerful mementos and artifacts from a little-known piece of history from the Civil War. "Eight feet tall, this is an original recruiting broadside asking for Black people to come forward," Jim Paradis, a board member at the Camp William Penn Museum, said. "We're just a block away from the site of Camp William Penn, which was the first and largest federal training camp for Black soldiers in the Civil War." CBS News Philadelphia Referred to as the U.S. Colored Troops, as many as 200,000 were sent to fight in the Civil War. After the Emancipation Proclamation, 10,000 soldiers trained a stone's throw away from the museum that honors their legacy. "The number of Black soldiers who fought for the Union Army. They turned the tide of the war," Paradis said. "So, would that have an impact on the outcome of the war? Yeah. Why that's not a central point for what turned the tide of the war, I don't understand how that gets missed." Corporal Robert Fuller Houston is one of a dozen Black reenactors who have been shedding light on the story of Camp William Penn and the history of Black soldiers in the Civil War for 35 years. For him, it's personal. "I'm the first cousin, three generations removed to William Carney," Houston said. "He was the first Black Medal of Honor winner." CBS News Philadelphia One thousand Black Civil War soldiers are laid to rest at the Philadelphia National Cemetery in Elkins Park, just a few miles from Camp William Penn. Edward McLaughlin is an author who has been chronicling their stories for years. "This is a memorial that had to be," McLaughlin said. "No one recognizes this, no one brought this. I had to bring this to public awareness. It was this and another piece of history that several hundred soldiers died in that camp. Unrealized history. No monument, no Memorial Day services." CBS News Philadelphia This Juneteenth, the little-known history of Camp William Penn looms large. The legacy of Black Civil War soldiers should never be forgotten. "Four regiments that were trained here at Camp William Penn were sent to Texas when the war came to an end," Paradis said. "So, they were actually there at the time General Granger read the famous proclamation." "People should remember in terms of Juneteenth, it is an African American holiday, not an African holiday, but an African American holiday," Houston said. "It has to do with what people of African descent have done in this country, the accomplishments they've achieved since emancipation."
