FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Organization: Heritage Folk Music
Telephone: (845) 594-4412
Email: heritagefolkmusic@gmail.com
Website: http://heritageconcerts.blogspot.com/
Heritage Folk Music presents "Juneteenth" -The Dutchess Antislavery Singers
On June 19th, from 3-5 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, 320 Sawkill Road, Kingston, NY 12401. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. This program will use music to trace the history of antislavery, with special emphasis on the Mid-Hudson Valley and the Underground Railroad.
Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Although originating in Texas, the celebration has spread all over the country. (It is reported that there were Juneteenth celebrations in Albany, NY.) For a complete history of Juneteenth, go to http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
The Dutchess Antislavery Singers are part of the Mid Hudson Anti-Slavery Project and perform abolitionist music written between 1833 and 1863. Set to hymns, patriotic and popular tunes, these pieces were sung at abolitionist conventions and rallies around the North. The Singers perform in period clothing, circa 1860. Their program will trace the rise of the inter-racial antislavery movement from its religious origins to its political clout in the 1850s, drawing in turn on hymns, patriotic tunes, parlor music, and even minstrel tunes.
The concert will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, 320 Sawkill Road, Kingston, NY 12401 on Sunday June 19th. 3-5 pm. Admission is $8.
Heritage Folk Music, Inc. is a non-profit organization with a mission to collect, preserve, document, display and interpret the regional and historic folk music, folklore and oral history of New York State, including specifically the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River Valley. For more information contact Bob Lusk at (845) 594-4412 or visit http://heritageconcerts.blogspot.com/
