Montgomery County: Juneteenth celebration to be held at Silver Spring library
Issue date: 6/22/08 Section: Neighborhood
The Silver Spring Library's African American Film Circle will host a free Juneteenth program on Saturday, June 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. at the library located at 8901 Colesville Rd.
"Juneteenth: A Celebration in Film!" will feature two motion pictures -- a short film for children to be screened in the morning, and a longer one of adult interest that will be shown in the afternoon.
From 11:30 a.m. to noon, children can watch "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and learn how runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada by following the directions in a song called "The Drinking Gourd," taught to them by an old sailor named Peg Leg Joe. Based on a children's book of the same title by Jeanette Winter, the film is hosted by Levar Burton.
From 12:15 to 1:15, adults can watch "Roots of Resistance: A Story of the Underground Railroad" that reveals the story of the Underground Railroad through narratives of escaped slaves. It includes interviews with descendants of slaves and slave holders of Somerset Place -- a plantation in North Carolina -- who describe the personal danger and terrible risk involved in each slave's departure. It is narrated by the award-winning actress Ruby Dee.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the country. It marks the occasion when, on June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas first learned of their freedom - more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
The Silver Spring African American Film Circle meets regularly at the Silver Spring Library. For more information about the event or the book group, call 240-773-9420/TTY 301-565-7505. For directions, visit Branches and Hours at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.
"Juneteenth: A Celebration in Film!" will feature two motion pictures -- a short film for children to be screened in the morning, and a longer one of adult interest that will be shown in the afternoon.
From 11:30 a.m. to noon, children can watch "Follow the Drinking Gourd" and learn how runaway slaves journey north along the Underground Railroad to freedom in Canada by following the directions in a song called "The Drinking Gourd," taught to them by an old sailor named Peg Leg Joe. Based on a children's book of the same title by Jeanette Winter, the film is hosted by Levar Burton.
From 12:15 to 1:15, adults can watch "Roots of Resistance: A Story of the Underground Railroad" that reveals the story of the Underground Railroad through narratives of escaped slaves. It includes interviews with descendants of slaves and slave holders of Somerset Place -- a plantation in North Carolina -- who describe the personal danger and terrible risk involved in each slave's departure. It is narrated by the award-winning actress Ruby Dee.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the country. It marks the occasion when, on June 19, 1865, slaves in Texas first learned of their freedom - more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
The Silver Spring African American Film Circle meets regularly at the Silver Spring Library. For more information about the event or the book group, call 240-773-9420/TTY 301-565-7505. For directions, visit Branches and Hours at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.
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