Thank you to everyone who celebrated Juneteenth 2026 with us!
4th Annual Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday June 13th, 2026
Performing Arts Center of Rapid City
Free Admission
Saturday June 13th, 2026
Performing Arts Center of Rapid City
Free Admission
1:00pm- Meet in fellowship, enjoy some coffee and cookies, contribute a paper quilt square to a community quilt, and view educational displays about the holiday and local Black history.
2:00pm-An Afternoon with Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman-performance created by Joyce Jefferson and featuring community performers in the Historic Theater
Funded by the Change Network Alumni Council, a program of the National Arts Strategies
2:00pm-An Afternoon with Katherine Davis Chapman Tillman-performance created by Joyce Jefferson and featuring community performers in the Historic Theater
Funded by the Change Network Alumni Council, a program of the National Arts Strategies
What is Juneteenth?
On June 19th, in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enslaved people were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. Since January of 1863, Union soldiers, many of whom were Black, had been reading aloud the proclamation on plantations and in cities across the south as the Confederacy lost territory. It took until June 19th, 1865 for the enslaved people of Texas to be proclaimed free. The day was then celebrated as Juneteenth - our country's second independence day. It is an opportunity for our entire community to celebrate our shared freedom.
On June 19th, in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enslaved people were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. Since January of 1863, Union soldiers, many of whom were Black, had been reading aloud the proclamation on plantations and in cities across the south as the Confederacy lost territory. It took until June 19th, 1865 for the enslaved people of Texas to be proclaimed free. The day was then celebrated as Juneteenth - our country's second independence day. It is an opportunity for our entire community to celebrate our shared freedom.