The idea that would ultimately become Juneteenth@160th started back in 2022 when I went to a Juneteenth celebration in my home state of South Carolina. Juneteenth had just become a federal holiday and people were creating festivals to celebrate. However, at each Juneteenth celebration I attended, the focus really was not on the historical significance of the holiday and its impact, but rather the festivities themselves. The ones that did have a historical component seem to have it primarily as an afterthought of sorts rather than the historical component being the centerpiece of the programming. This was significant because Juneteenth was historically a regional holiday meaning that outside the region it started, the date’s significance would simply boil down to being a “ Generic Black American Holiday”.

As such, a conversation would begin involving fellow living historians such as Darron Overby and Allen Mack who also noticed this as well and the core concept of developing a Juneteenth Program where the historical component would be the core of the programming while the festivities would be in support of the core historical programming. To accomplish this, Living History programming was deemed to be the most effective way to educate the public about the historical significance of Juneteenth as living history offers an engaging way for the public to learn about nuanced historical subjects. This also could act as a form of empowerment and inspiration for future generations of young historians by seeing that there is a large group of Black living historians who are knowledgeable and passionate about lesser known historical subject matter. Most importantly, a different approach from textbooks, to educate the public on the unique subject matter in order to raise awareness.

The Juneteenth@160th Living History Encampment represents a major step forward for the museum as well as the city of Houston in that this is the largest living history focused event that the museum has ever done up to this point and this will be the first time that the city of Houston will host a large living history event that will focus on the history of the United States Colored Troops and their service in Texas. This represents a major shift in museum programming in that we hope to incorporate more living history programs that cover the Black Military Experience beyond just the western frontier. This also represents a way to encourage the next generation of historians to become involved in historical preservation and museum work.