” data-large-file=”https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Erickson_Juneteenth1-610×458.jpeg” data-medium-file=”https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Erickson_Juneteenth1-300×225.jpeg” data-orig-file=”https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Erickson_Juneteenth1.jpeg” data-orig-size=”960,720″ data-permalink=”https://vtdigger.org/erickson_juneteenth1/” data- data-src=”https://vtdigger.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Erickson_Juneteenth1-610×458.jpeg” data- height=”458″ src=”data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20610%20458%22%3E%3C/svg%3E” width=”610″><figcaption>The group Neighbors for a Safer St. Albans held a private Juneteenth barbecue in 2021. Photo courtesy of Reier Erickson</figcaption></figure>
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<p>A year ago, Reier Erickson held a largely private Juneteenth celebration at his home in St. Albans. He felt unsafe inviting the entire community because white supremacist posters were being put up around the city, Erickson said at the time.</p>
<p>Similar materials are still being posted in St. Albans, though seemingly less frequently in recent months, officials and activists said. And this year, Erickson, who is Black, has worked with other residents to organize what will be the first public celebration of the federal holiday in the city on June 19.</p>
<p>Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned that former President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation more than two and a half years earlier.</p>
<p>Sunday’s event is not sponsored or organized by the city government, but officials have created <a href=)
a poster and a webpage for the celebration.
It’s set to run from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Bishop Street parking lot, which is behind the St. Albans Museum and next to St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Erickson
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a poster and a webpage for the celebration.
