For over 150 years, the U.S. has celebrated June 19 as the day that African Americans were emancipated of slavery, otherwise known as Juneteenth. This year, San Marcos is providing various opportunities to celebrate Juneteenth as a community with family-friendly events and recognition for this federal holiday.
Dunbar Heritage Association’s Juneteenth Celebration
The Dunbar Heritage Association (DHA) will be hosting its annual Juneteenth Celebration from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on June 17 at Paul Laurence Dunbar Park. This celebration will include games like bingo, sack races, etc., live music, vendors and more activities for all ages to participate in.
DHA was created in 1999 by Harvey Miller with hopes of keeping Dunbar special. Dunbar is a historical neighborhood in San Marcos where African Americans created local businesses and a new life for themselves shortly after being emancipated, but still while going through segregation. Now, DHA advocates, celebrates and educates about African Americans and their history while also hosting events for MLK Day, Black History Month and Juneteenth.
The annual Juneteenth Celebration has taken place for more than 20 years. Jonafa Banbury, a board member for DHA, has been a part of DHA since 2018, taking part in celebrating Juneteenth and creating a welcoming community through DHA.
Banbury believes that DHA has provided an opportunity to expand the community, making the annual Juneteenth Celebration bigger and better each year.
“What I’m looking most forward to this year is just being able to bring various members of the community together from the Texas State community and all of the Dunbar neighborhood as usual and just giving people an opportunity to come out and have a family-packed event,” Banbury said.
Banbury encourages residents to volunteer for the annual Juneteenth Celebration to get involved while also getting to know the Dunbar community. To volunteer, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexSHbT_JvuFfAFUaHuCWJovwyf350JviKae9WsKNiTaxLkrA/viewform.
For more information on the annual Juneteenth Celebration, go to https://dhasmtx.com/juneteenth/.
Visiting the Calaboose African American History Museum
The Calaboose African American History Museum provides artifacts of personal belongings from Johnnie M. Armstead, the founder of the Calaboose African American History Museum and Hays County historian. Originally, the Calaboose was used as the first jail in Hays County in 1873 and then used in 1884 as the jail for black prisoners once the second jail was made. Years later in 1997, Armstead saved the Calaboose and fought to renovate it. By May 1997, San Marcos City Council granted the Calaboose to serve as a history museum.
The artifacts at the Calaboose African American History Museum are photographs, letters, books and much more that people can use to learn about the rich African American history within San Marcos and Hays County.
Ginger Salone, the secretary for the board of directors at the Calaboose African American History Museum, believes that the museum is a place for people to recognize black history, with deep importance of remembering it.
“If we don’t remember our history, if we don’t learn from it, we’re doomed to repeat it and I’m certainly not the first person that’s made that statement, but it’s important that we bear in mind that the mistakes we’ve made and also celebrate the successes that we’ve had,” Salone said. “The museum does both.”
The Calaboose African American Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays on West Martin Luther King Drive in San Marcos. To learn more about the museum, go to https://www.calaboosemuseum.org/.
Juneteenth Freedom Run
DHA will be hosting its annual Juneteenth Freedom Run from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on June 19 at Dunbar Park. The run requires a $40 entry fee, which includes a running medal, bib, a water bottle along with a free t-shirt for the first 19 participants.
Like DHA’s Juneteenth Celebration, the Juneteenth Freedom Run strives to bring together a strong community with the support of a run that goes through Dunbar to reflect on the history within the neighborhood.
“The focus is not so much on the run itself but the history and tradition of taking people in the Dunbar neighborhood,” Banbury said. “It’s to remind people of that this neighborhood was a thriving black community during the time of segregation. There were black business owners and black community members that built their own community and still thrived even in those times.”
Although the opportunity to register on Eventbrite is closed, Texas State’s Division of Inclusive Excellence is allowing 10 students to participate in the Juneteenth Freedom Run. To request to participate, email [email protected].
TXST Juneteenth Jamboree
Texas State Student Connections and Belonging is hosting it’s first Juneteenth celebration, TXST Juneteenth Jamboree, to create an inclusive environment for the celebration and to invite community members and students to learn more about the holiday.
TXST Juneteenth Jamboree is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on June 19 at Sewell Park. The event is free and open for all to attend. Food will be provided by a local Black woman owned business Hurry Back catering and DJ Aarooo, resident DJ for Hip Hop Congress, will be mixing up the whole set.
The Student Connections and Belonging has asked a couple students, Gigi Secuban, the vice president for Inclusive Excellence (VPIE) and President Kelly Damphousse to speak at the event. Informational books about Juneteenth, pulled from the University Library and activities like Jamboree Jenga are some of the opportunities created for a fun learning experience about the holiday.
The Outdoor Recreation Center is offering free rentals of kayaks, paddleboards, canoes, tubes, and snorkel sets to the first hundred of students with their BobcatCard.
Jesse Silvia, director of Inclusive Excellence for the Student Connections and Belonging, and his team have worked hard to create a space where everyone can have a good time. He is looking forward to the event and is happy to take on this opportunity to increase the abilities of people to connect with one another.
“Why not taking advantage of a beautiful day in which we can create this fellowship and opportunity to remember our history here and collectively, you know, friends here, where do we go as a country and as universities?” Silvia said. “It’s a really cool thing to do.”
More information about the event and a student RSVP form can be found at https://inclusion.txst.edu/students/programs/cultural-celebrations/juneteenth/rsvp.html.