Cassandra Archie and her 5-year-old grandson, Austin, sat close together, coloring pictures on June 19 inside the ballroom at the Lincoln Theatre in Columbus’ King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood.
It was just one small way Archie was passing down African American history and culture to Austin as the two were among the crowd of people celebrating Juneteenth by doing various crafts, listening to the history of Columbus’ neighborhoods, learning West African dances and more as the theatre held its annual celebration.
The event was just one of several Juneteenth celebrations happening around the Columbus area in recognition of June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were finally free – two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation and about two months after General Robert E. Lee surrendered the South to end the Civil War.
Archie said history can be lost from generation to generation, but she brought Austin to the Lincoln Theatre before heading to two other Juneteenth events so he could know that history.
“It’s important that there’s some reminders of it,” she said. “Does he understand it all? No. But is he being introduced to it? That’s what’s important.”
Suzan Bradford, executive director of the Lincoln Theatre, said the Juneteenth event allows all generations to have hands-on learning, so they can better grasp the concepts. She said there is a Ghanaian quote that you bring what is good from the past to the present to ensure it is there in the future. Each generation has an obligation to pass down the authentic information, the skills and crafts to the next generation, she said.
“If our elders and ancestors are doing or have done things to help sustain family and community, we want that next generation to have a sense of that foundation where they can grow from,” Bradford said. “They’ll be taking those values, those principles, those morals, that sense of self and community into their generation.”
Monica Scott, of Columbus, was passing down lessons on quilting as she taught people of all ages how to make lapel pins with a traditional pinecone patch quilt design, which involves layering different fabrics over one another.
Scott learned the art form from her own grandmother, who was a sharecropper in rural Alabama, where Scott grew up. She’s the only one in her large family who still quilts.
But quilting is more than just a skill, she said. She remembers her grandmother having friends over to quilt together and they would talk, laugh and cry. The same connection was forming as women quilted side-by-side, sharing their progress and laughing together on June 19.
“This is what you get when you come together. Quilting is a form of community,” Scott said.
Delaware County and eastern Columbus suburbs reporter Maria DeVito can be reached at mdevito@dispatch.com and @mariadevito13.dispatch.com on Bluesky and @MariaDeVito13 on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus families honor Juneteenth by passing traditions to next generation
Reporting by Maria DeVito, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Maria DeVito, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
