By The Public Communications Office
In this episode of “What’s Up, College Station?” Marketing Coordinator Grace Hallowell and Assistant Lincoln Recreation Center Supervisor Markeesha Watson talk about the upcoming Juneteenth celebrations, including a genealogy workshop, an oral history event, and the annual freedom walk.
Transcript
Grace Hallowell:
What’s up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell, and today I’m joined with Miss Markeesha Watson from the Lincoln Recreation Center. Hi Markeesha.
Markeesha Watson:
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Grace Hallowell:
You’re welcome. We are here to celebrate Juneteenth and talk about all the fun events we have. But before we get into those, give us a brief rundown about why we celebrate Juneteenth.
Markeesha Watson:
Okay. Juneteenth is a celebration for freedom. On June the 19th, 1865, troops marched in to Galveston to announce that the African Americans in Texas were free. So the day has been known as Juneteenth and is a Celebration of Freedom.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, it’s a very important celebration, and it’s exciting that it happened right here in Texas, so close to home. So what events do we have going on?
Markeesha Watson:
At the Lincoln Center, we have a few things going on. Starting on Thursday, June 8, we have a genealogy workshop. During that workshop, we will be giving tips and techniques on connecting with your family and using different websites, things to help record the history or records of families, and documents that may be archived, and just connecting with your ancestors. We’ll be doing that twice this month, on June 8 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and then again on June 22, from 6-7:30 p.m. That’s what we’re going to start the month off doing.
Then, we’ll be having our documentary night. That’s called Let Freedom Ring, the oral history documentary. That’s going to be on June 15 at 6:30 p.m. During this celebration, a documentary video of the African Americans in College Station and how their families got here and how they’re connected to the different communities throughout College Station will be shown. There will be some singing going on that night. We want to make it like a family reunion and make everybody feel welcome to come and learn about the Black history of College Station.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, and many of those families are still living in our community.
Markeesha Watson:
Yes, definitely. Or their descendants are here to share their stories that they may have learned from their grandparents or great-grandparents. We’ll have a few vendors there that night and also food.
Grace Hallowell:
Always a plus.
Markeesha Watson:
Exactly. This is a free event. All of our Juneteenth activities are free, including the genealogy workshop. But the documentary that I’m referring to, again, that’s June the 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The next day, we will have our Juneteenth Freedom Walk where we’ll walk from the Lincoln Center to the George Bush Library, which is about a two-mile walk. All our kids that participate in our summer day camp, our seniors that participate, some of the people from our department and other departments in the city are welcome to come out and walk with us. And anyone who wants to participate are welcome to come and walk with us from the Lincoln Center to the George Bush Library. Once we get there, there’s going to be a storyteller that will be engaging with the kids, doing a storytelling. There’ll be some music and just celebrating Juneteenth.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. A big celebration.
Markeesha Watson:
Yes, yes. And again, that’s on Friday, June the 16, and that will start at 9:00 a.m. from the Lincoln Center.
Grace Hallowell:
Awesome. Well, if anybody has questions, where can they learn more?
Markeesha Watson:
Definitely look at our website, cstx.gov/lincolncenter to find out more information about the things that we have going on at the Lincoln Center.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. And also, feel free to stop by the Lincoln Center.
Markeesha Watson:
Yes, definitely.
Grace Hallowell:
I know a lot of people don’t really think to stop by, or they think it’s inconveniencing, but you guys are always willing to show people around, give tours, show what other programs you have going on.
Markeesha Watson:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. All right, well, thank you so much for joining me today.
Markeesha Watson:
Thank you for having me.
Grace Hallowell:
You’re welcome. And that’s what’s up.
Previous Episodes
If you liked this post, share it with the buttons below!
You must log in to post a comment.