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Join us at Jamestown Settlement for thought-provoking history and performances exploring the precarious nature of freedom from 17th-century Jamestown to Juneteenth.

Juneteenth's roots are in Galveston, Texas, where in June of 1865 the Emancipation Proclamation was finally shared with some of last enslaved people to hear they had been freed. However, the Proclamation’s first reading in a Southern state was on the Virginia Peninsula, in the city of Hampton in 1863. In the preceding centuries, enslaved people sought freedom through the courts, military service, and other forms of self-emancipation.

"Prelude to Juneteenth" reflects on this history, exploring the strategy and complications, and the joys and challenges of ending chattel slavery on the Virginia Peninsula with dramatic readings highlighting stories from the 17th century through the American Civil War. Presenters include Dale Heiskill, Valarie Gray Holmes, Brandon Lee and Shalandis Wheeler Smith. Songs performed by Sylvia Tabb Lee & the Rejoicing Singers.