Juneteenth

Joyous Juneteenth 2026!

Though it’s not a precise reckoning, the 1870 federal census is the closest account we have of who was emancipated in Wilson County five years earlier. The 310 surnames inscribed above are those reported to the census taker by the newly freed (and a few freeborn).

We need no one’s permission to honor and amplify the memory of our forebears, and we needn’t wait for the government to teach us their stories and struggles. Today, we celebrate freedom, resilience, and the enduring legacies of the men, women, and children these names represent.

Pour one for the ancestors this Juneteenth!

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Juneteenth, observed annually on June 19th and a federal holiday since 2021, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery—more than two months after Appomattox Court House and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Wilson Arts weaves a better tomorrow with Juneteenth activity.

I learned just today of Wilson Arts’ Juneteenth activity this year, but it’s never too late to shine spotlights. I reached out to Executive Directive Cathy Brown Hardison to find out more.

“Quilt-making and basket-weaving are traditional cultural practices among American Descendants of Slaves, especially within the Gullah-Geechee communities that span from the Carolinas to northern Florida,” she said. “Ribbon-weaving serves as a nice callback to those traditions—it requires less dexterity and can involve participants of all ages and abilities. We also had a ton of fabric and ribbon on hand, and our set designer built the stand for us—so it really came together as a meaningful community project.”

The weaving wasn’t quite finished at Wilson’s Juneteenth Festival, so visitors to the Farmers & Artisans Market a few days later were given the opportunity to contribute. Since then, the weaving has been installed in the Wilson Arts gallery as a drop-in activity alongside information about Juneteenth. (Given the recent viral video showing workers at a Wilson business making snarky comments about the holiday, this educational outreach is welcome … and sorely needed!)

Kudos to Wilson Arts for offering a Juneteenth activity that wasn’t just a personal takeaway, but a collaborative piece that the whole community could contribute to.

Thank you to Wilson Arts for the images and video!

 

Juneteenth along the Tombigbee.

 

Yesterday, late afternoon, in a north Mississippi local government office.

Me: Are y’all open tomorrow?

Black woman behind counter: [Quizzical pause.] … Yes.

Me: Juneteenth?

Her: What?

Me: Juneteenth.

Her: [Another pause. Locks eyes with me, suppresses rueful laugh.] Aw, naw. Yeah, we’re open. They don’t celebrate that here.

Though I have no roots here, Mississippi always moves me, maybe shakes me, deeply. Last evening, I stood on the banks of the Tombigbee River and nearly dropped to my knees as the sun set on its swirling chocolate-brown waters. I don’t have roots here, but I probably have people here. Unknown and unknowable descendants of men, women, and children sold out of North Carolina and Virginia to the cotton plantations of the Deep South.

I’m in Mississippi on the trail of slave traders — men esteemed in the annals of Wilson County history. By chance, today is Juneteenth. The courthouse is open, and I am here to find us.

Lane Street Project: help wanted for the Juneteenth Festival!

Lane Street Project once again will have a booth at Wilson Juneteenth Festival to raise awareness of our work and the cemeteries we serve. This is an excellent chance to connect with the community, especially families who might be descended from or related to people buried in Vick Cemetery.

The festival is June 15th at Toisnot Park and runs from 11:00 A.M.-8:00 P.M. We need volunteers who will commit to manning our booth during the day. We’ll be handing out informational literature about Vick Cemetery and about the clean-ups at Odd Fellows Cemetery. If you’ve been wanting to help Lane Street Project, but dragging branches out of the woods isn’t your thing, please consider volunteering for a few hours.

If interested, please contact me as soon as possible at lanestreetproject@gmail.com or via the Lane Street Project Facebook page. Thank you!

Lane Street Project: Juneteenth thank yous!

And it’s a wrap! Juneteenth weekend was extra-special for Lane Street Project. For the first time, we had a booth at Wilson’s Juneteenth Festival, and our first summertime clean-up, co-sponsored by Scarborough House Resort, was a resounding success!

Special thanks to David Speight of Mount Hebron Lodge #42; festival vendor chairperson Sheryletta Lacewell; Lane Street Project volunteers Castonoble Hooks, Briggs Sherwood, Billy and Christina Foster, Brittany Hamm, and Lisa Benoy Gamble; and Jen Kehrer and the good folks of Scarborough House. Thanks also to everyone who stopped by our booth Saturday to learn more about our work at Odd Fellows and Vick Cemeteries and all who showed up in today’s steamy heat to take back a little bit of sacred ground.

Photos courtesy of Jen Kehrer and Derek Griffin.

Lane Street Project: in memory of Damp Haskins (1851-1915).

I’ve spoken of the database I am developing of likely burials in Vick, Odd Fellows, and Rountree Cemeteries. My spreadsheet draws upon death certificates, obituaries, and other sources — most distressingly imprecise. The term “Rountree Cemetery” on these documents may refer to Vick, Odd Fellows, or Rountree. Some documents broadly refer only to burial in Wilson. However, in the absence of official burial records for any of the cemeteries, we make do.

This series honors the men, women, and children who never had grave markers, or whose stones have been lost or stolen or destroyed. Memorials for graves believed to be in Vick Cemetery, which the City of Wilson stripped of remaining markers in 1996, will be identified with a Vick Cemetery logo. Memorials for men and women born in slavery will be identified with a broken chain.

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Damp Haskins died 22 April 1915 in Wilson. Per his death certificate, he was 64 years old; was born in North Carolina to Charles Haskins and a mother whose name was not known; worked as a farmer; and was buried in Wilson by C.H. Darden & Sons. William Haskins was informant.