Several residents, volunteers, and public officials gathered on the morning of Saturday, June 22 to honor Juneteenth, which Americans celebrated on Wednesday, 6/19. Juneteenth is a new holiday which commemorates the day the final slaves were officially awarded freedom on June 19, 1865. Several speakers at the ceremony mentioned this historic moment in US history.
“Juneteenth marks not the end, but the beginning of the struggle for equity and justice,” Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman said to a sizable crowd at the Rye African American Cemetary Saturday morning. “We are here today not only to celebrate history, but to rededicate ourselves to fight for justice and equality.”
The commemoration began with oral histories of several key figures who lived in Rye or the surrounding area, and are now buried inside the cemetary. For example, Edwin Purdy was a scared, lonely black man who lived in Washington DC during Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and feared for his future, while Morris Thompson served in the armed forces from 1863-1865 with wife Charlotte and their four children at home.
The highlight of the event was a speech from Joseph Holland, author of Make Your Own History and an otherwise acclaimed community servant. Holland spoke about the importance of not only the Juneteenth holiday and its history, but also about the impact of having a historic site like the African American cemetary in Rye, and hosting a commemorative ceremony like Saturday’s: “We’re here because this is about fairness and raising up the memory – the legacy of those who may have been treated unfairly in the past,” Holland said. “But as we remember, though, we can now be motivated, even inspired, to treat others fairly as we’re going forward.”
After the speeches, attendees were welcomed to assist in a volunteer project to clean gravestones within the cemetary. The scorching heat caused Rye Town Director of Grounds and Facilities Vic Federico and other volunteers to substitute traditional rake and broom work for eco-friendly cleaning fluid and brushes. Many stayed to help out in efforts to help add some shine to and remove dirt and lichen from gravestones at one of Rye’s greatest historical landmarks.
