News Release

Commemorate Juneteenth at your local national parks

Date: June 14, 2023
Contact: Chelsea Sullivan, 202-297-2659

WASHINGTON— As Juneteenth National Independence Day approaches, the National Park Service (NPS) invites you to celebrate this important holiday at nearby national parks. National parks across the Washington, D.C. area will host events commemorating the long, hard road to freedom for African Americans in the United States. 

Juneteenth celebrates the final emancipation of enslaved African Americans, which took place in Texas in 1865, three years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Several national parks in the D.C. area share the stories of the fight to end slavery, establishment of civil rights and the achievements of African Americans. 

We hope to see you at one of these events!   

Saturday, June 17 

Antietam National Battlefield 

Where: Temporary visitor center at Antietam National Battlefield 

When: 10 a.m. 

Join a ranger-led tour to learn about the connection between the battle of Antietam and the abolition of slavery. Following the tour, attendees are invited to a program at the historic Tolson’s Chapel and School to learn about the history of Juneteenth as well as the establishment of the chapel and it’s use as a Freedman’s Bureau School during Reconstruction. The Chapel will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  

Monocacy National Battlefield 

Where: Best Farm 

When: 11 a.m.

Celebrate Juneteenth with a guided, 1.5-hour, 1-mile-long hike and follow the journey of freedom for those who were enslaved on the farms that make up Monocacy National Battlefield today. Learn about the enslaved people who found freedom through escape, court rulings, and the ratification of Maryland’s constitution in 1864, which abolished slavery in the state. You will also learn about the African American soldiers who fought to end slavery when the tour reaches Monocacy Junction, where the U.S. Army recruited free and formerly enslaved African American men for the U.S. Colored Troops.   

Sunday, June 18

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park 

Where: Provost Marshal Office, located in historic Lower Town 

When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Visitors are invited to join park staff and volunteers to discover the role of the military-run Freedmen’s Bureau, which helped to protect the civil rights of freedom seekers in Harpers Ferry for months before what we know today as Juneteenth. Learn how the bureau used military authority to establish schools and churches, open an employment office, legitimize marriages, pay enlistment-bonuses owed to African American soldiers for military service and helped to reunite families separated by enslavement.  

Monday, June 19 

Theodore Roosevelt Island

Where: Theodore Roosevelt Memorial and Facebook Live

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Commemorate Juneteenth with drumming, dancing, junior ranger programs, a ranger-led tour and more! The event will include a performance of the Black National Anthem by Ernestine Creek and remarks by CR Gibbs, author of “Black, Copper, & Bright” a book about the District of Columbia’s African American Civil War Regiment, the 1st U.S. Colored Troops. This will be followed by an island tour from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. The event will also feature a junior ranger program based around the 1st U.S. Colored Troops and a performance by speaker, musician and interdisciplinary artist LaTreice V. Brunson, of her work titled “Urban Jungle.”  

Theodore Roosevelt Island is an appropriate place to commemorate Juneteenth, having served as a training ground for the 1st U.S. Colored Troops and later the home to a Freedman Village where formerly enslaved people lived shortly after end of the Civil War. If you can’t make it in person, you can watch the event on Facebook Live.  

Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm 

Where: Historic farmhouse at Oxon Hill Farm  

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Listen to one of Frederick Douglass’s famous speeches, ask questions, and explore the history of slavery and emancipation at the farm’s historic farmhouse. Watch and listen as actor Nathan Richardson, who portrays Frederick Douglass, recite Douglass’ speech “What a Black Man Wants” from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. From 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can meet and greet “Mr. Douglass” and explore Oxon Hill Farm’s historic farmhouse.  

National Mall and Memorial Parks 

Where: African American Civil War Memorial (1925 Vermont Avenue NW) 

When: 1:30 p.m. 

Join a park ranger to find out how emancipation evolved from the 13th Amendment to the celebration of Juneteenth as a national holiday.  

Manassas National Battlefield Park 

Where: Park for the tour near the Groveton Rd/Rt 29 Intersection 

When: 1:45 p.m. 

Look behind-the-scenes at the construction of the Andrew Redman Blacksmith Shop in the historic crossroads community of Groveton. Andrew Redman was an enslaved African American blacksmith who lived in the Groveton community. Groveton was a Civil War-era village located at the crossroads of Groveton Rd and Rt 29. The only original structure remaining is the L. Dogan House. The program will include a discussion on slavery and freedom in Prince William County during the Civil War, information on Andrew Redman and the NPS’s plans for the shop.  
 

-NPS-

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 424 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.