Events
Virtual Tenement Talk
Before Juneteenth: Emancipation Celebrations in the Tenements
When: Tuesday, June 25, 2024, 6:30PM - 7:30PM ET
Event Location: YouTube Live
Cost: Free; Suggested Donation
Before the Emancipation Proclamation, before Juneteenth, Black New Yorkers celebrated July 5th as Emancipation Day after the abolition of slavery in the state in 1827.
Join us on June 25th on YouTube Live for a special conversation exploring the history and significance of July 5th in New York in the 19th century. Marquis Taylor, Lead Researcher of our newest exhibit, A Union of Hope: 1869, will share primary sources and research on the lead-up and eventual passage of emancipation laws in New York state.
How would people like Joseph and Rachel Moore have celebrated on July 5th? What did celebration look like when people were still enslaved even in neighboring New Jersey? How did Black communities use this day to push forward new ideas about freedom and what it meant to be American?