DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — In 2021, Juneteenth, traditionally a Texas holiday, became a federal holiday, and in recent years, there has been a push to have a greater understanding and acknowledgment of enslaved people here in the South.
In Durham’s historic Stagville, the lessons of the past are still being learned today.
“We see folks coming to historic Stagville who really want to understand the true, full history of slavery and want to understand the stories of enslaved people and of their descendants,” said Vera Cecelski, the site manager of the Stagville Historic Site. “And we see, we’ve seen an increase in the number of people who really want to understand the legacy of what happened here. The stories of Stagville after 1865, and the stories of these families who survived slavery here and went on to be entrepreneurs and sharecroppers and tenant farmers and laborers and living parts of communities all across the United States.”
Stagville is an enormous resource to learn about the history of the people who were enslaved on the property. On Friday, Juneteenth, it will be offering free tours all day long.
“Stagville was one of the largest sites of plantation slavery in North Carolina,” Cecelski said. “In 1860, on the eve of the American Civil War, over 900 people of African descent were enslaved and held captive here and today, we research and teach about their stories, true stories about people who survived and endured slavery here on this land. It’s been said that “If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree”
Adrian Nirde, director of the NC African American Commission, said, “We can look at most any community in North Carolina has stories of enslavement. From the very earliest days, we are very much a state full of plantations and the system and agriculture growing all kinds of things from rice and cotton and tobacco.”
Juneteenth, which marks when enslaved people in Texas learned they were free, is a holiday meant for celebration, but also one meant for reflection.
“African American history is American history. And North Carolina is no exception to that,” Nirde said. “From the very early days up through present, African Americans have made enormous contributions to everything that is the fabric of North Carolina.”
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Barbara Gibbs
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