About
Juneteenth615 Celebration has been an important part of Nashville tradition since 2018. What originally started a s a simple way of celebrating the city's rich history has grown into a celebratory affair including the annual Juneteenth615 historical program and fireworks presentation along with the city’s Juneteenth Restaurant week. We also lead and support Nashville’s City Wide Juneteenth Celebration and our sister events Black on Buchanan, Music City Freedom Festival, the National Museum of African American Music’s (NMAAM) Block Party, Community Day and many more. Over time the Juneteenth615 Celebration has grown to truly bring the Nashville and surrounding communities together, and annually attracts over 10,000 people and 25,000+ combined as Nashville’s Unified City Wide Juneteenth celebration.
“Slaves endured a system of captivity for twelve generations. We embark to celebrate the ending of this cruel crucible of tyranny and give thanks to our ancestors for their endurance.”
- W. H. Siwel IV
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Our Mission is three-fold.
Our mission is to (1.) commemorate our history and spread the historical awareness of JUNETEENTH and the emancipation of slaves, (2.) to create a space for celebration and fellowship amidst food, libations, music, and dance, reimagining freedom and (3.) to activate community through an intentional effort of diversity, equity, and inclusion, releasing any unforgiveness.
The Significance of Fort Negley Park
The Union army commissioned Nashville's Fort Negley in 1862. It took roughly three thousand endured strenuous black laborers, both free and enslaved, to erect the Fort and even fought the Confederate army as needed.
Labeled as 'contraband' by the Union Army, the free slaves eventually created thriving neighborhoods like Edgehill, Edgefield, and Jefferson Street.
Presently, Fort Negley Park is a place where people and history come together to learn that we are a part of history and not apart from it, and so we remember the site to honor the history of those who died building the Fort.
Fort Negley is listed as a Site of Memory in the Slave Route Project of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
