BOZEMAN — On Friday, Montana State University hosted a Juneteenth celebration for the community.
“It is a celebratory day, but it’s also a time to think back on slavery and the horrors within,” said Jasmine James.
WATCH: Montana State University is celebrating Juneteenth in Bozeman with food, history, and hands-on activities
James has been living in Bozeman for 13 years and works at the MSU library at the service desk.
“My primary job is as a student supervisor… and then managing the shelf reading,” said James.
James has been involved in three of the four Juneteenth events Montana State has held over the past few years.
“Sometimes black folks here in the west hear that we don’t belong here and that isn’t the case,” said James. “All of Black history is Montana’s history.”
Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating June 19th, 1865, the day union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved people in the state were free under the Emancipation Proclamation, which was signed two years earlier, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“It’s a fallacy to believe that the enslaved were okay with being enslaved,” said James. “The enslaved were consistently escaping, consistently working against those who would keep them oppressed.”
As part of Friday’s event, James and their co-worker Wendy highlighted Freedom Quilts.
“Freedom Quilts were a textile language that the enslaved would use to communicate to the people who might be on the underground railroad,” said James.
“We are having people color squares,” James added. “Last year, we put those squares together into a big, like, paper quilt and that was very fun”
The event also included prompts for people to answer, books related to Juneteenth themes, a raffle, word searches, and red cosmos for people to plant.
Additionally, there were specially-picked food and drinks, including hibiscus tea to represent the blood of the enslaved and because it is the color of joy. There was also Pig Pickin’ cake, a celebratory southern dessert.
“Juneteenth marks an important part of American history that is often under-recognized, I would say,” said Ariel Donohue.
Donohue is a Senior Access Officer at MSU’s division of Student Success. She says MSU’s Juneteenth event was not just a celebration – but also an opportunity to learn.
“Part of our commitment to education as an institution is just offering that knowledge, development, and understanding about our country, our world, and our community,” said Donohue.
Both Donohue and James shared the same message with the community.
“Stay curious, and take these opportunities to learn along with the rest of the community,” said Donohue.
“Come out, have a good time, eat some food, learn something,” said James.
A Juneteenth celebration is also being held Friday until 8 p.m. at Tinworks Art. For more information, visit this link.
