De Hirsh Margules, Mother Ann Lighthouse, Eastern Point, Gloucester, 1946. Gouache on paper. Gift of Jean M. Horblit, 2002. [Acc. #2002.004.002]
Gloucester Daily Times: How Cape Ann will celebrate Juneteenth
By Stephen Hagan, June 17, 2025
A guided interactive program about the history of the Freeman family, a prominent Black family in Gloucester in the 18th and 19th centuries, will be offered from 10:45 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of City Hall, 9 Dale Ave., as part of the city’s Juneteenth celebration. Pictured is Hattie Freeman Johnson, circa 1928. Photo courtesy of Wellspring House.
Juneteenth, the federal holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States, will be celebrated again on Cape Ann with observances held primarily in Gloucester and Rockport.
The fifth annual Gloucester Juneteenth Celebration will take place 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, June 19, at City Hall, 9 Dale Ave.
The free event will begin at 9 a.m. with a flag-raising ceremony and comments by city officials and staff from the Cape Ann Museum.
From 9:30-10:45 a.m., there will be a community reading of former slave and abolitionist Frederick Douglass’ speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass delivered the speech July 5, 1852, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies’ Anti-Slavery Society.
Gloucester Juneteenth founder Toni Waldron, a project scholar for the Freeman Family Project, will lead groups in discussions about the speech in City Hall’s Kyrouz Auditorium following the reading.
Juneteenth reminds people there is a “rich tradition for Black Americans,” she said
“The program for Gloucester is robust and offers an educational element. There’s always an understanding of the history of Black Americans and putting it into the context of our history. It’s American history.”
From 10:45 a.m. to noon, an interactive program about the history of the Freeman family will be guided by Waldron in the City Hall parking lot. The Freeman family was a prominent Black family in Gloucester in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Family art activities will be led by members of the Cape Ann Museum Teen Council and free scoops of ice cream will be offered, courtesy of Holy Cow Ice Cream.
A table organized and staffed by the Bookstore of Gloucester and Dogtown Books will distribute books that offer a range of voices regarding the holiday, including authors written by Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
Funding for the program has been provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council through Mass Humanities. Additional sponsors include Action Inc., Discover Gloucester and Holy Cow Ice Cream.
In Rockport, residents may observe the holiday on the lawn of the Old Sloop, the First Congregational Church of Rockport, 12 School St., on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The celebration will include the appearance of the Rhythm Plus Soul Jazz Band, with bandleader Doug Rich, who is slated to be the speaker for the Rockport celebration.
“Juneteenth is special to Rockport,” he said. “Rockport has such a small African American population yet this population took it seriously. They are paying attention and being mindful of this.”
Food will be served.
“We will serve cupcakes and cut fruit,” event organizer Amy Seabrook said. “Red fruits like strawberries were prohibited to slaves.”
Resident Lorna Holland will oversee an art activity for children.
The holiday’s name, first used in the 1890s, combines the words “June” and “nineteenth,” which refers to June 19, 1865 — the day Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War.
The celebration also pays homage to an 89-year-old African American, Opal Lee, who spent four years walking from Texas to Washington, D.C., to petition the government to create the holiday.
“No one is free until everyone is free,” Lee said at the time.
Five years after beginning her walk, the Juneteenth holiday was signed into law in 2021.
More information about slavery and abolition on Cape Ann may be found at capeannslavery.org.
To read the full Gloucester Daily Times Article, click here.
