News Release

160th Anniversary of the Emancipation of Booker T. Washington and Juneteenth Event

News Release Date: June 9, 2025

Contact: John Mitchell, 540-682-0173

Hardy, Va— Booker T Washington National Monument will commemorate the 160th anniversary of the emancipation of Booker T Washington with special events June 20-22, 2025. Join in the festivities as the community comes together to celebrate one of the most important moments in our nation’s history, the moment of emancipation.

The event kicks off on Friday, June 20 with a series of guided programming highlighting Washington’s childhood experiences while enslaved on the Burrough’s tobacco plantation.

The 24th Annual Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 21 with gospel groups and educational programming throughout the day. Gospel groups include The Napper Singers, Pastor Maurice Yancey Sr. & One Accord, The Joy Bells, Larnell Starkey & The Spiritual Seven, The Lovely Valley Choir, and EnVue. Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Food vendors will be available throughout the day.

The event concludes on Sunday, June 22 with a series of guided programming, including a performance on a gut-string banjo while discussing the African origins of the “banjar” and its connection to Southside Virginia.

All programs are free and open to the public and are subject to change. See the full program schedule on the park’s special event page. 

—NPS— 

Booker T. Washington National Monument preserves the plantation where Washington was born into slavery in 1856 and lived until he and his family were emancipated at the end of the Civil War in 1865. He is known as an educator who guided the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, as well as an orator, author and leader in the African-American community. Learn more at www.nps.gov/bowa.

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's more than 430 national park units and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, X www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.