Juneteenth Celebration Planned at First Presbyterian Church

COOPERSTOWN—The public is invited to a Juneteenth celebration on the front lawn of the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown (corner of Pioneer and Church streets) on Wednesday, June 19 at noon. The program will include music, poetry, personal testimony, history, and children’s activities. It will be led by the Rev. LaDana Clark of Church N The Hood and the Rev. Mike Coles of the First Baptist Church of Cooperstown, with special musical performances by Amanda Sheriff (Young Artist, Glimmerglass Festival) and Katie Boardman, First Presbyterian’s music director, as well as historical commentary by local historians Tom Heitz and Will Walker. Light refreshments will be served.

“On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas with the news that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free. This day came to be known as Juneteenth, now officially a federal holiday. Juneteenth is a time to celebrate, gather as a family, reflect on the past and look to the future. Juneteenth celebrates African American resilience and achievement, while aiding in the preservation of those historical narratives that promoted racial and personal advancement since Freedom Day.” (National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution)

Cooperstown’s celebration connects this national holiday to the area’s local history of emancipation. On July 4, 1827, African Americans from Cooperstown and the surrounding region celebrated the official end of slavery in New York State with an emancipation celebration at the Presbyterian meeting house. This event is memorialized with a historical marker on the church’s front lawn.