State College Juneteenth celebrations get support from PA Tourism Office. Here’s what’s planned
Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday last year and this summer celebrations across Pennsylvania will be bolstered by state grants — including those in State College.
Centre County’s tourism agency, Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, was one of seven recipients to receive a 2022 Journeying Toward Freedom grant, the Wolf Administration announced Monday. The HVAB received $15,000.
The Journeying Toward Freedom grants, through the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, will support Juneteenth celebrations across the commonwealth this year. In its first year, the grant was established by the tourism office with Voices Underground “as part of a commitment to seeing Pennsylvania become the nation’s leader in African American cultural heritage tourism and ensuring the stories of all Pennsylvanians are uplifted and heard,” a press release states.
Juneteenth celebrates the anniversary of the day in 1865 that news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas, and enslaved African Americans became aware that they had been freed.
A total of $89,000 was awarded through the grant program. Grants were awarded based on criteria that included historical significance, communications and marketing plans, educational outreach, volunteer resources and matching funds, according to the release.
Among those in Harrisburg for the news conference Monday were representatives from HVAB, Lorraine Taylor, president of the NAACP State College chapter, and Charles Dumas, a professor emeritus from Penn State, who provided a poetic reading.
During the conference, Taylor said this is an important moment in terms of remembering African American history and freedom.
“We are so, just, happy to be here and be part of this history and the things that we can do to make people within our community feel like they belong — that is so important. And part of … celebrating Juneteenth is making sure that people not just feel like they can be in a community but they actually belong in a community,” Taylor said.
She said several different Juneteenth events are planned in State College this year.
“Part of that process of being able to belong, is having things that talk to and speak to our culture, right? This year we’re planning on having several different events. Not only just to have fun, but to educate people in terms of what Juneteenth means. There’s a lot of people within our community, within the state of Pennsylvania, that don’t even know what Juneteenth is,” Taylor said. “And so to have an opportunity and have people that reach out and supply funding for us to be able to educate and make people aware of what this means of our independence, of our liberty, within this nation is so important.”
Carrie Fischer Lepore, deputy secretary for marketing, tourism and film with the Department of Community and Economic Development, said in a release that by promoting Juneteenth, they are demonstrating that the commonwealth is welcoming to and respectful of all people.
“Juneteenth is an especially important holiday because it recognizes the day our nation began moving toward fulfilling its destiny as a nation where all people are free,” Fischer said. “I am proud that we are not only helping to give this important holiday the recognition it deserves, but that we are uplifting the stories of many Americans who have historically been underrepresented in our cultural assets. By promoting Juneteenth, we are demonstrating that we are a commonwealth that is welcoming to and respectful of all people.”
