The Telfair Museums 10th Annual Juneteenth Celebration


Emory Shaw Campbell
Emory Shaw Campbell

The Telfair Museums 10th Annual Juneteenth Celebration will be held on Thursday, June 9th and Saturday, June 11th, 2016 at the Jepson Center.

Juneteenth is an historic event that commemorates the 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas the last state to do so.

The Juneteenth keynote lecture will be from Emory Shaw Campbell. He is the former director of the Penn Center and President of Gullah Heritage Consulting Service. Campbell has appeared in documentaries, news magazines, films and radio and television programs, including 60 Minutes; The Today Show; the PBS special Family Across the Sea; and C-Span’s Washington Journal. He wrote the guidebook Gullah Cultural Legacies and his essay entitled “A Sense of Self and Place: Unmasking My Gullah Cultural Heritage” was published in the book, African

American Life in the Georgia Lowcountry (University of Georgia Press).

He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Governor’s Award for Historical Preservation (1999), the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame (1999), the Carter G. Woodson Award for Civil Rights (National Education Association, 2006) and honorary doctorates from Bank Street College, NY and the University of South Carolina, Beaufort. As President of Gullah Heritage Consulting Service he conducts institutes on Gullah cultural heritage and related issues through lectures, short courses and the Gullah Heritage Trail Tours on Hilton Head Island.

The Telfair Museums 2nd Annual Juneteenth Artist of the year award will be presented to Savannah artist Arthur “Artie” Milton as part of the Lecture Series program. Arthur “Artie” Lee Milton, is a local artist and 1971 graduate of A. E. Beach High School. Milton was in the first graduating class of

Artie Milton
Artie Milton
Savannah College of Art and Design in 1982. He went on to received his Master’s degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland.

Milton was selected by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance Day Association to receive the MLK, Jr. “Legacy Award for the Arts” during the 2016 Observance Day celebration. In 1986, the MLKing, Jr. Day Committee commissioned Milton to paint a portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. to be displayed at the entrance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Arena of the Savannah Civic Center.

The portrait was dedicated at the 1986 MLK, Jr. celebration making Milton the first African American artist to have his work permanently displayed in a municipal building in Savannah.

Arthur Lee Milton is the son of Dolphus and Iris Milton of Savannah. He has 2 sons, Peter Milton (Cleveland, Ohio) and Kenya Milton (Brooklyn, NY.) He has sisters, Patricia Milton Shuman and Tanya Milton of Savannah.

Juneteenth Family Day – Saturday, June 11, 2016, 1pm – 4pm Juneteenth at the Jepson Center!

The Juneteenth Family Day on June 11, from 1-4 pm, celebrates Juneteenth with performances by historians, hands-on activities, music, and artist demonstrations by local artists honoring the Gullah Geechee culture of the Savannah and coastal region.

The event kicks off, at 1pm, with an opening ceremony on the steps of the Jepson Center and Cultural performances by Jamal Toure and Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah Geechee Nation. Juneteenth special musical guest: David Pleasant.

All Junteenth events are free and open to the public. These programs are sponsored by the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs.


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