The Juneteenth program, June 18, 2022, was at an historic cemetery in New Paltz. I'd been staying in Poughkeepsie with friends. It was a drive. Everything outside the immediate urban areas looks the same. Grasslands, farms, open space. I hoped I wasn't lost. There were no landmarks. I was happy to see the cemetery markers as I arrived. It was easy to find the celebrants. New Paltz is majority white even through African descendents free labor is an underappreciated legacy. Participants told stories of ancestors, some buried at the site, while others called the names of the many African people scattered throughout the site as children later placed flowers on the Graves. Libations were poured, an historian shared the historic narratives. Later songs and hymns were sang.
Many of us were attending the Sojourner Truth Tour later. There were events planned through the weekend. After the tour there was a concert at the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, New York.
Souljourner Truth's great-grandaughters speaking with the owner of the house TRuth stayed when she took her freedom at 29.
Great-grandaughters
in front of barn
Son holding phone as he tells his mother that he's talking to Sojourner Truth's great-grandaughters. She tells her son how she came to know the story of the house. She said a university scholar and his daughter asked to interview her. This historic home was one of many her family owned. Her father wasn't home a lot, so she never knew its history.
The son's mother was happy to tell the story.
This is the basement where Truth probably cooked meals and maybe slept.
A great granddaughter
One of the places a young Sojourner Truth, then enslaved Isabella, stayed.
We rode to Highland Park where there is a bridge over the Hudson River. There is a new monument to Truth there.
The actress tells Truth's story. It starts to rain.
She asks Truth's granddaughter to read. It is sad and she can barely get through the text.
Actor and playwright
At the concert that evening
Juneteenth
Child with flowers
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