Galveston residents can provide feedback for the city’s Juneteenth center at two community sessions in October. Here’s what to know.
Galveston has been working to immortalize Juneteenth history on the island since October of last year. A designated center honoring the federal holiday has been slowly coming together, and residents are now being called upon to lend their opinions on what that center should include.
A new release issued from Juneteenth’s Home, Texas’ Official Center Initiative, states that two meetings will be held in October to give community members the opportunity to discuss what’s most important to them in terms of preserving Galveston’s Black history. The sessions, which are scheduled for October 24 and October 25, will be led by Sources Cultural Resources Management and SmithGroup, two museum design and cultural-planning firms.
The Design Director and Vice President for SmithGroup, Dayton Schroeter, said of the meetings, “The vision [for the center] really has to come from the community and the people who hold this history closest.” He added, “Ultimately, as we synthesize and learn more about the community’s aspirations, I think we’ll be able to get to a place where we’re able to more concretely define exactly what this has the potential to be.”
Schroeter, who also serves as the Architectural & Master Plan Design Lead for Juneteenth’s Home, went on to further explain the importance of these initial sessions. “We are approaching this first round of engagement with curiosity and a commitment to listening. We want to introduce our team, establish an open dialogue, and listen closely to the aspirations, ideas, hopes, and questions that matter most to the community. What we hear will help shape the values and guiding principles that anchor the master plan,” he said.
Following the community meetings, Juneteenth’s Home is set to undergo another year of planning to help bring the center to fruition. The group will be aided in its efforts by the Galveston Historical Foundation’s African American Heritage Committee, along with assistance from state officials and city leaders. $7 million in funding from the Texas Preservation Trust Fund for Galveston’s Juneteenth Museum was previously allocated by state legislators.
When and where the sessions are being held
Galveston residents who would like to participate in the Juneteenth center planning meetings may do so by attending one or both sessions at Ball High School’s cafeteria (located at 4115 Avenue O). The schedule of events is as follows:
Saturday 10/24 – 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.: An open house and team meet and greet will be held from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.; there will be a brief 30 minute break before a presentation is given and community feedback is heard from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. From 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. a secondary open house and team meet and greet will take place before activities are wrapped up for the day.
Sunday 10/25 – 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.: A team meet and greet and open house will be held from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m.; there will be a brief 30 minute break before a presentation is given and then community feedback is heard by organizers from 3:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. From 5 p.m. until 6 p.m. another team meet and greet and open house is scheduled before the final session concludes.
The Interpretive Project Lead for Juneteenth’s Home, Dr. Calinda Lee, said in the organization’s news release, “Juneteenth is a living tradition that Galveston’s community has practiced, protected, and reimagined across generations. Its truth lives in families, churches, and neighborhoods as much as in any archive. Our job is not to arrive with a story already written, but to listen and to help residents shape which stories are told and how.”
