Juneteenth

Juneteenth events The freeing of slaves during the Civil War was a momentous event, one marked each year as Juneteenth. This, the oldest African-American holiday, offers an opportunity for all Americans to gain a better understanding of the past. An array of Juneteenth celebrations are taking place throughout the area. Here are just a few: A Juneteenth lecture with Mount St. Mary's College historian Steve Whitman takes place at 7:30 p.m. today at the Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. Whitman is author of the book Challenging Slavery in the Chesapeake and the coming The Price of Freedom: Slavery and Manumission in Baltimore and Early National Maryland.

JuneteenthA celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation takes place Saturday at St. Mary's Park in Baltimore. The freeing of slaves during the Civil War is marked each year as Juneteenth. This year's celebration of that momentous event offers historical lectures, a Paul Robeson exhibit, limited-edition prints by Tom Miller, artifacts, quilting seminars, hand dancing, gospel, blues and jazz and lots of food.The Juneteenth celebration is 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary's Park, 606 N. Paca St. at Druid Hill Avenue.

In Baltimore City16-year-old boy fatally shot outside West Baltimore schoolA 16-year-old boy was fatally shot yesterday afternoon while sitting on a bench near a basketball court on the playground of a West Baltimore school, police said.Police said the victim was sitting alone outside Booker T. Washington Middle School in the 1300 block of Madison Ave. about 3 p.m. when he was shot several times in the chest and stomach by one of two youths. The victim, whose name was not released, died a short time later at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

NEW YORK -- When the novelist Ralph Ellison died in April 1994, the status of his long-awaited follow-up to the 1952 classic "Invisible Man" was unclear.Eight short stories he had published since 1960 were pieces of a novel-in-progress, but a completed manuscript would have to be mined from his Harlem apartment. "I did have the impression it was close to being finished," Ellison's editor at Random House, Joe Fox, said at the time.But only now is the book finally ready for publication -- by Random House in June, under the title "Juneteenth," the name of a celebration marking the emancipation of Texas slaves on June 19, 1865.

Circus Acrobats, aerialists and clowns The circus with soul - UniverSoul Circus - is coming to town. The 75-member urban-styled circus, which was started by Baltimore native Cedric Walker in 1994, is coming to the Security Square Mall on Tuesday through June 25. New ringmaster and popular comedian Tony Tone will be joined by Ringmaster's Sidekick Zeke, ice skaters, limbo dancers, acrobats, aerialists, clowns, jugglers, elephants, lions and other performers...

MIRACYLE Christine Graves wears two crowns. The 10-year-old Columbia resident, who has caught the pageant bug, is the reigning Miss Pre-Teen Baltimore and the first Little Miss Juneteenth.Doctors could not predict this when she came into the world in November 1988, three months premature and weighing only 1 pound, 14 ounces. Her mother, Theresa Chevalier, 37, was also a "preemie" and knew about the potential difficulty. She has had several surgeries to correct spinal problems and has internal organs that did not fully develop.

Events June 3 "The Oracle" -- Family-friendly theatrical show with life-sized pup pets about an African princess, by the African Continuum Theatre, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Sprenger Theatre, 1333 H St. N.E., Washington. $17-$37. 202-399-7993. Capital Jazz Fest -- Perform ances by Ramsey Lewis, Isaac Hayes, Najee, Take 6, Ledisi, the Brand New Heavies, featuring N'dea Davenport, the original Blackbyrds with Kevin Toney and others, beginning at noon at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia.

Happy summer, dear readers! Summer officially begins with the summer solstice on June 21 at 2:46 a.m. in Havre de Grace (and all along the East Coast, USA, of course). I double dare you to stay awake and welcome summer's arrival. Visit Susquehanna State Park or the North Park Trail for a little of William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" madness, yourself! Celebrate June 20 as World Vegan Day with a salad picked from fresh produce purchased at the Havre de Grace Saturday Farmers Market, from 9 a.m. to noon.

EASTON - A free black man sat on the steps of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and wondered aloud whether his brother had been taken into bondage. Nearby, Harriet Tubman carried a 4-foot-long rifle. This scene from the days of slavery was performed yesterday by re-enactors who took part in Easton's first Juneteenth celebration. Easton has joined a number of communities that commemorate Juneteenth, a celebration marking the end of slavery. Easton was chosen as the site for the festival because it's near the birthplace of Frederick Douglass, one of the best-known leaders of the abolitionist movement.

A peculiar word in African-American history translates to "freedom" for many people: "Juneteenth." Today, Maryland and 43 other states will hold celebrations of June-teenth, one of the oldest African-American holidays, marking the end of slavery in the United States. Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when Union Army troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with the news that all slaves had been declared free. This news was delivered more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation abolished slavery in the South, and two months after the end of the Civil War. As for the word's origin, some believe that "Juneteenth" comes from the variation of slave English from traditional English.