3 events in Salem to celebrate Juneteenth
Juneteenth was officially made a federal holiday in 2021, but celebrations of the holiday commemorating the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas received news of their emancipation in 1865 have taken place for decades.
On Monday, June 19, Salem residents will have the opportunity to reflect and celebrate once again at different gatherings in the city.
Community history walk
The Willamette Heritage Center is partnering with Oregon Black Pioneers and Just Walk Salem Keizer to host a community "history walk" through downtown Salem that will follow the history of pioneering Salem residents Albert and Mary Ann Bayless and their family and friends.
Albert and Mary Ann Bayless, or Mary Ann Reynolds/Randles, were both born into slavery. The two married in Salem in 1866 where they lived until their deaths in 1907.
Curator Kylie Pine previously delved into the lives of Albert and Mary Ann Bayless on the first episode of Black History Quest, a virtual series hosted by Oregon Black Pioneers. A recording of the January event is available on Youtube.
On Juneteenth, participants will be able to walk two routes to learn more about the Bayless family. One route will be about a mile loop, Pine said, taking participants from the Willamette Heritage Center to the site of the Bayless home and back.
Their home in the Piety Hill neighborhood was also where the family hosted an Emancipation Day celebration in 1879.
The full route is about three miles through downtown Salem and back to the museum.
Other stops will include the site of Albert's blacksmith shop and their church, which still stands downtown today. Albert is credited with the last push in fundraising to get the church built.
For those unable to join, a virtual map will be available digitally on theevent webpage on and after Juneteenth. Pine said the hope is to build a library of similar stories laid out over a map of Salem and for the event to become a new tradition in the city.
Pine described the walk as an opportunity to look at the Juneteenth story through a local lens.
When: 10 a.m. to noon June 19.
Where: Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St. SE.
Price: Free.
More information: willametteheritage.org/freedomsfootsteps/
Capitol block party
Equity Splash will host an event at the Capitol Mall with food, music and activities celebrating the holiday.
Oni Marchbank organized the event. She received the Distinguished Service Award in April for her work as a BIPOC advocate and nonprofit leader.
Other organizations partnering with Equity Splash for the event include Enlightened Theatrics, Seed of Faith Ministries International, Up Lift, Salem Neighborhood Associations, Marion Polk Food Share, Be-Blac Foundation, Salem Leadership Foundation, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, Chemekata Community College, the Kroc Center, YMCA, KTZ, Black Joy Oregon, Salem-Keizer NAACP, Salem Chamber of Commerce and more.
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 19.
Where: 900 Court St. NE.
Price: Free
Ribbon cutting ceremony, celebration
The Bush House Museum has spent the past year working on a reimaging project to confront Asahel Bush's legacy as an early Salem businessman and newspaper publisher and also a racist.
On Juneteenth, the Salem Art Association will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new Waldo Bogle Gallery in the museum. The gallery is named after America Waldo Bogle, a Black Oregon pioneer and the subject of Bush's racist ire due to her wedding in January 1863.
Reckoning with Salem's racist history: Conversations begin about Asahel Bush's legacy
The wedding, held on the same day President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, was presided over by a white preacher and attended by both Black and white guests. Bush called the event shameful.
The event will not only celebrate the opening of the galley but will also feature the next paintings in a series of 10 portraits of early Black pioneers, all by Black Portland-based artist Jeremy Okai Davis.
Learn more about the series here.
While the event is free, space is limited and reservations will be required through Eventbrite: tinyurl.com/4b5jss6y.
When: June 19, 5:30-7:30 p.m. June 19.
Where: Bush House Museum, 600 Mission St. SE.
Price: Free. Eventbrite reservation is required.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Juneteenth is coming up. How to celebrate in Salem
