FISHERS, Ind. — Juneteenth is the nation’s youngest federal holiday, separated from the oldest by only two weeks.
That’s one reason local historians say it’s important to tell the whole story and celebrate all progress. Events like this the Juneteenth Jubilee at Conner Prairie have grown every year across the country.
“For so many years, we didn’t know what it was about,” Deborah Washington, owner of Lady D’s Bling, said. “Now, we actually know what it’s about and we’re able to celebrate it.”
The event was organized by the Fishers Arts Council and the Fishers High School Future Black Leaders Club to introduce the community to local Black-owned businesses and resources, and enjoy the occasion.
“There wasn’t really any major celebrations in Fishers, Indiana celebrating Juneteenth,” Jayden Rucker with the Future Black Leaders club said. “Especially with it recently becoming a national holiday, we wanted to continue a tradition that we’ve had of celebrating Juneteenth.”
Only recently have some local names and stories been revived that were once overlooked, and eventually lost to time.
“Within the last couple of years, we’ve actually discovered that there might’ve been Hamilton County soldiers at the first Juneteenth ceremony,” Hamilton County historian David Heighway said. “They were in Galveston Harbor on June 19. We don’t know exactly what they did or what they had to do, but nevertheless, it was kind of interesting.”
Hamilton County historian David Heighway helped compile a list of about 50 African American men from the area who fought in the Civil War.
“I’m trying to go back and put those names back into the history books, back into the reference so people can find them again,” Heighway said.
Heighway added that researchers learned a few years following the war were positive ones in Hamilton County.
“The soldiers basically came back and said, ‘Okay, we know who was shooting at us and who was on our side.’ After the war they became judges, they became doctors, they became important members of the community,” he said. “It was a very, very positive time – 1870s, 1880s, 1890s started to fade a bit, and of course by the 1920s – Indiana had a huge problem.”
For some communities, the widespread celebrations of Juneteenth have revealed that history itself is a work in progress.
“Everybody has a place in history and we are really striving to make that a reality,” Ryan Spencer, vice president and chief programs officer at Conner Prairie, said.
“We’ve come a long way. We hear that so often,” business owner Kia Lanae Coleman said. “We still have a long way to go. But I think that if we commit to rising up and understanding one another a bit more, being sensitive to one another and moving forward as we are called to just to be better people – I’m excited to see that.”
Right now, Conner Prairie is getting ready to launch a new exhibit covering 600 years of the experiences of African American people. You can find more information on that on their website.
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