On June 15, the Central Park Conservancy carried out its third annual “Juneteenth in Seneca Village” celebration.
The event, held at at the Seneca Village Landscape, aimed to pay tribute to the community that once inhabited what is known today as Central Park through musical performances, activities for the whole family and opportunities to learn more about Seneca Village’s traditions and community.
Andromeda Turre, an award-winning vocalist and composer and founder of Growing Up Jazz curated the event. Daniel Fishel, illustrator, animator, and educator provided the artwork.
To “experience the music that Seneca Village residents likely enjoyed and might still today, had their community endured,” attendees enjoyed musical performances by vocalists Brianna Thomas and Chinah Black and saxophonist T.K. Blue, according to the Central Park Conservancy’s official website.
Then, Kaiser’s Room, a non profit organization that promotes creativity in the performing arts for all students, regardless of their abilities, presented a theater performance that demonstrated the games that the Seneca Village most likely played. The performance kept the audience engaged through multi-sensory activities and inviting the audience to be active participants throughout the performance.
To commemorate the legacy and history of Seneca Village, representatives of All Angels’ and AME Zion, two of the three churchers of Seneca Village were present at the event. Together with The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum, which provided a printmaking workshop to create a mural.
The Studio Museum in Harlem also had an art-making activity that sought to incorporate nature.
The organization, Corbin Hill Food Project had a history lesson for attendees as they learned about traditional food sources and provided special seed paper that attendees could use at home to grow their own food.
Attendees were also able to take a peek at the objects that belonged to the residents of the community that were discovered in 2011.
Finally, guides stationed at Tanner’s Spring and Summit Rock were available for a history tour about Seneca Village’s institutions, community and tradition.
It was a successful evening filled with fun but most importantly highlighted the importance of keeping New York City’s history alive.
