Folks gathered Saturday for the annual Wheatley Historical Preservation Association's Juneteenth celebration.
Nationally recognized in 45 states, Juneteenth commemorates the abolishment of slavery and serves as a second Independence Day for people of color.
"We're here to celebrate, as it has been done historically, the earliest existence of freedom that was given to a group of people way back in the 1800s," organizer Rex Rattler said during the event at Wheatley School. "We also want to keep this in memory for the kids who are local, so they will have an appreciation for this type of holiday at a historic location within their community."
The oldest known celebration recognizing the ending of slavery, Juneteenth combines "June" and "nineteenth" in reference to the date in 1865 when the announcement of the end of the Civil War finally reached Texas.
Though Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, granting freedom to all who were enslaved effective Jan. 1, 1863, it wasn't until two and a half years later that more than a quarter million slaves residing in Texas were freed.
"The big significance of it is really not here in Missouri," said Bill Turner, of the WHPA. "This comes out of Texas, you see. That was because some areas were late in getting the news of the Emancipation Proclamation. History is very important and Juneteenth is part of the process of our culture and explains where we came from."
Turner, Dr. Ashlee Roberts and Margaret Combs agreed the Juneteenth tradition is key for teaching young people about their heritage and empowering them for the future.
Roberts, who is the assistant director of student involvement at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, served as the keynote speaker for yesterday's event.
Roberts graduated in 2003 from Poplar Bluff High School. She attended the University of Memphis, where she earned three bachelor's degrees, the University of South Carolina, where she earned a master's degree, and St. Louis University, where she recently graduated with her doctorate in higher education administration.
"In Poplar Bluff, we don't see a lot of black professionals," said Roberts, 33. "We don't see a lot of people who have made it through academia and so I wanted to set an example. I still love home, even though I don't get a chance to come very often. I still believe in home. I still believe people have opportunities, and I want people to know they have the opportunity to become whoever they desire."
Combs works with youth through the local non-profit group Dream Construction. She said Juneteenth is a cultural celebration she is proud to embrace.
"A lot of folks have their certain independent and national days that they reference for their culture or their particular status. We didn't," she said. "So when we found that independence for ourselves, which was actually in June instead of July, we get a chance to celebrate that."
Combs said it is her goal to help teens and adolescents stay on the path to a successful future. She said anytime there is an opportunity to impart wisdom, she jumps at it.
"We get a chance to teach our children of the true heritage and culture that they actually come from," she said. "If you know where you come from, it's easier to know where you're going."
Festivities were plentiful during Wheatley's Juneteenth celebration. The day began with a motorcycle show, followed by a cook-out, a free-throw contest and a performance by the Show-Me Dance Studio.
Addonya Nelson coaches and choreographs the team and brought nine girls to perform a dance to Beyonce's "Freedom." She said they have been preparing for nearly a month.
Nelson said branching out and attending gatherings away from school enables young people to expand their knowledge beyond the information found in textbooks.
"A lot of our girls didn't know about (Juneteenth) before this event," Nelson said. "Obviously, they're younger, so they don't understand how big of a deal this is, but this is awesome. It expresses freedom for not only Americans, but for African-Americans. It was a long journey coming."