Event
19th Annual Juneteenth Jubilee at African Cemetery No. 2, Lexington, KY
Fee:
Free.Location:
African Cemetery No. 2 419 East Seventh Street Lexington, KY 40508Dates & Times
Date:
Time:
Duration:
Type of Event
Description
The National Park Service is honored to participate in the 19th Annual Juneteenth Jubilee at African Cemetery No. 2 in Lexington, KY to commemorate the Juneteenth Day and the 160th Anniversary of Camp Nelson. In June 1864, the U.S. Army authorized the unrestricted enlistment of African American in the United States Colored Troops [USCT] in Kentucky. By war's end, 23,703 Black Kentuckians served in the USCT. 154 Black veterans are interred at the cemetery, including 114 men who served in regiments organized at Camp Nelson—the largest USCT recruitment center in Kentucky and the third largest in the country. A year later on June 19, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger issued General Orders No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, declaring all enslaved people in the state “forever free.”
Visitors should bring camping chairs and water.
Location:
African Cemetery No. 2
419 East Seventh Street
Lexington, KY 40508
More information