Mabry-Hazen House Celebrates Juneteenth with “…And Then I Became Free: Stories of Emancipation at Mabry-Hazen House”
Join Mabry-Hazen House on Saturday, June 17, and Monday, June 19 for special tours to commemorate Juneteenth. Mabry-Hazen House will share stories, objects, and research related to the historic house museum, local enslaved communities, and their stories of emancipation. Visitors will learn about the lives of African-Americans connected to Mabry-Hazen House, their achievements and struggles, and the various ways they gained their freedom. From self-liberation to the 13th Amendment, “..And Then I Became Free: Stories of Emancipation at Mabry-Hazen House” will explore the different methods enslaved people broke down the oppressive institution of American chattel slavery and fought to gain their personal liberty.
The museum will open on Saturday, June 17 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and three tours will be offered at 10:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 1:30 p.m. Then on Monday, June 19, the museum will offer special Juneteenth tours at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Admission is free, but tours are limited to twenty-four visitors per tour. Reservations are encouraged and donations are appreciated. To reserve a tour, please visit www.mabryhazen.com/events/emancipationday or facebook.com/mabryhazen
Juneteenth is the oldest known national celebration commemorating the abolition of slavery. It was on that day in 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that word of slavery’s end reached an enslaved community in Galveston, Texas, the westernmost state of the Confederacy. Throughout the South, formerly enslaved African Americans had already sought emancipation by a variety of means, yet in places like Texas and East Tennessee, slavery remained legal even after Lincoln issued his famous executive order.
