This event is FREE and open to the public!

The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) will celebrate Juneteenth with “Music Through the Ages,” on Thursday, June 16, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Oklahoma History Center. Dr. Donnie Nero will serve as the master of ceremonies for several educational presentations and musical performances representing Oklahoma’s unique African American roots. Light refreshments will be served. The Oklahoma History Center is located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City.

Dr. Harold Aldridge will perform 19th-century calls and early blues while giving background information on their origins. Walter Taylor’s Blu Fonk band will play mid-20th-century blues and swing. Jabee Williams will round out the music with a more contemporary rap mix. Other performers will include Evelyn Morgan, Delta Sigma Theta and the Brothers of Stomp from Beta Omicron Sigma.

This annual event is sponsored by the OHS’s Multicultural Office and Black Heritage Committee. Juneteenth is the celebration of emancipation following the US Civil War. US Army General Gordon Granger proclaimed the end of slavery in Texas at Galveston on June 19, 1865. This news and celebration spread to the enslaved people of Indian Territory throughout that summer.

For questions about the event please call 405-522-5204.