Members of the Marshall University and Huntington communities will observe the federal and state holiday Juneteenth with a celebration Friday, June 16. It will take place from noon to 3 p.m. on Harless Field on the Huntington campus and is open to the public.
The event will include free live music with the band Red Line and “food, friends and fun,” according to organizers. Bruce Felder, Marshall’s chief talent and diversity, equity and inclusion officer, will give brief remarks as well.
The holiday Juneteenth represents the date enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned, on June 19, 1865, that they had technically been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier. Celebrations began in 1866 and have increased in popularity in recent years. Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in 2021.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has declared Juneteenth a state holiday for this year as well, and university offices will be closed Monday, June 19.