The 1865 Society of Pender County and their Juneteenth Celebration

The 1865 Society of Pender County

[00:00:00] Christa: Welcome to Topsail Insider, where you can hear all about the businesses and events in the beautiful coastal towns in the greater Topsail area of North Carolina. Hello, everyone. Welcome to "Topsail Insider." My name is Christa, and I am your host. , And today we're talking to the president of The 1865 Society, Ms. Karen Malloy. 

[00:00:24] Karen: Actually, it's The 1865 Society of Pender County, Incorporated. But that's okay, 'cause we usually refer to it only 'cause it's a mouthful. We always say The 1865 Society.

[00:00:35] Christa: Does it exist in other counties? 

[00:00:36] Karen: Absolutely not.

No, no, no. It was founded in

 2023, just on a whim. 

[00:00:43] Christa: what was the whim? what

prompted it?

[00:00:45] Karen: I at one time was a member of the Pender County Tourism Board And our director Tammy Proctor, we were talking about history one day and she said there's a professor at UNCW that has sent students to Burgaw and Pender County to interview African Americans for an oral history project and I was there and I was listening and I'm like, Oh that's a good idea. And then I was thinking there's nothing around here that refers to or even talks about Juneteenth. Mmhmm

[00:01:13] Christa: So I asked Tammy for her information . Her name actually is Dr. Danielle Rosenberg and she was willing to chat with me and some others. We started meeting at UNCW one week or two and then back at our church another week or two just to formalize and talk about some ideas . We came up with the name The 1865 Society because that's actually the year when the slaves in Texas found out they were free and had been free for two years.

They had been free for two years. but they found out about it two

[00:01:43] Karen: did not know The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in 1863.

The word didn't reach Texas until 1865.

 The 1865 Society is a nonprofit a 501(c)(3). And primarily, we really do stress education. Our mission is to teach, share the culture and history of African Americans and their contributions to this country. You cannot have American history without African Americans. And I'm, I will say bothered, because this current climate is erasing and/or just whitewashing 

history. And that's not a good thing. If anybody wants to know history, I would hope they would like to know the accuracy of the history, not just bits and pieces that make you feel good. We can't talk about the parts that make us feel bad. That's not good. That's just not good. And when you think about it, we have heard and continue to hear that it's

being taken out of the schools because we don't wanna make little white children feel bad about these things cause it had nothing to do with them when in essence it does. They are a product of what happened from the standpoint of, not necessarily directly, but you benefit from what has happened.

And I mean, 

even if you don't know your history, and my husband likes to say this, you're like a tree without a root system. And that's true. And there's nothing wrong with sharing the truth I'll bet you right now if I were to ask even you. Maybe you do know. Do you know who designed the Duke Chapel?

[00:03:23] Christa: Duke Chapel?

[00:03:24] Karen: The chapel at Duke University ?

[00:03:26] Christa: I do not know.

[00:03:26] Karen: An African American architect.

[00:03:27] Christa: That's awesome.

[00:03:28] Karen: Yes! And they just memorialized that or him 2017, named the quad after him, and so now there's a big plaque there on the quad that says Julian Abele. All of these things to me are important.

[00:03:45] Christa: I agree. l- Let's go back to the education system.

[00:03:50] Karen: Okay. 

To 

[00:03:51] Christa: You know a lot of people in the Board of Education in Pender County Schools. Not necessarily teaching in the actual schools themselves, right?

Have you talked to them about what's being taught, , where the curriculum is with Black history, in what grades, and what's being taught in those grades?

[00:04:10] Karen: I have not because primarily what I know is that the Department of Public Instruction sets the curriculum for the schools. I don't even think the teachers have anything to say about it.

[00:04:21] Christa: Is that in the county or is that State level? That's the State level. 

[00:04:24] Karen: And I think that needs to change but for that to change too I think parents need to become more involved and concerned about these kinds of things. On the national level, I don't know if you've heard, but they're looking to get rid of the Department of Education.

[00:04:38] Christa: I do know about that. Yeah,

I remember hearing that's

it. I can't say that I understand it fully.

[00:04:44] Karen: I don't either but I think it does play into the whitewashing of history and the erasing of African American history. I do. Now again, when you said Let's talk about education. How do we do what we do? We have a lecture series that is throughout the year and we contact individuals that we believe have made significant strides in history and have them come in and do lectures. Actually right here in Pender County in the Hampstead area if you will, Dr. Johnny Batts. Are you familiar with Dr Batts?

[00:05:19] Christa: I am, yeah.

[00:05:20] Karen: Dr. Johnny Batts is an astrophysicist and he is so humble.

And then along with Dr. Batts, we have I don't know if you know umCurtis Hardison? He's an author that did the history of Edgecombe Community in Hampstead

 and he is going to be a vendor and present at

the Juneteenth celebration. 

[00:05:40] Christa: Some of the people that you've had lecture, and you said this is throughout the year, not just during the Juneteenth celebration... 

[00:05:46] Karen: Oh 

yeah. Now this year ,thus far, we've had Vanessa Miller. Vanessa Miller is an author. Vanessa did the research and history. It's historical fiction but historical fiction is built off of truth.

So 

the book American Queen is about an African American that traveled from I wanna say Louisiana. A group of slaves looking for freedom, looking for a better way of life ended up in North Carolina in the mountains 

and 

based on what she did and her accomplishments, they refer to her as the only queen on American soil because of what she did, and other people that came along the way and they built a community in the Appalachian mountain.

 Not only do we have lectures, let me tell you what else we did. Do you know what the Green Book is?

[00:06:35] Christa: You told 

us about "The Green Book" when you presented at the Leadership Pender class but can you remind me?

[00:06:41] Karen: The Green Book is a book that was published during segregation, Jim Crow times, for African American travelers that could not stay in hotels. The young man that published this book was a postman in New York. The book was published and it was distributed throughout the States and there were places within the States that families, hotels, that people could stop and stay safely. Now here's something else that I think is important for anybody that wants to know about African American history. Julieanna Richardson is a Yale, Harvard or Yale, attorney that has established this archive within the Library of Congress called HistoryMakers. I saw her on 60 Minutes maybe a couple of years ago. It's a subscription or you can browse it but that product contains people, past and living, that have made significant contributions and it's a I wanna call it a living project because she continues to add. So if you wanted to know, just let's browse and see what we can find out, it is really amazing.

[00:07:47] Christa: Where do we access that?

[00:07:49] Karen: It's online It's called HistoryMakers.

[00:07:50] Christa: HistoryMakers. Okay.

[00:07:52] Karen: Julieanna Richardson.

[00:07:53] Christa: Okay.

[00:07:54] Karen: And now here, in this area too, you know about the Rosenwald schools? 

There are several in Pender County.

Rosenwald 

schools are one-room schools that were built for African American children. Julius Rosenwald who was the owner, or one of the owners of Sears,

gave money to help build these schools. Dr. Batts went to a Rosenwald school.

[00:08:15] Christa: Oh, really?

[00:08:16] Karen: Without the Rosenwald schools African American children would not have received any education at all because they were not allowed

to attend white schools. I remember-- It wasn't a Rosenwald school, I went to C.F. Pope-- but my friend Judge Gary Traywick and I were talking about segregation and how things have been and how there is, we say some change but not enough change. He remembers, he was young, he was going to the school at the end Wright Street It wasn't called Burgaw High then

I don't know what it was,

my principal, Charles Smith, at the end of the school year, would go down to that school and get the old books that were being discarded because we couldn't buy books. We didn't have the money And Gary says he remembers looking through the books how they were ragged and everything thinking they should be thrown away but how dignified Professor Smith was standing there and watching them go through the books and bring them back to us. That just left an ugly, a sad picture for me. And the s the chairs, I remember having our chairs with the desk, people's names on them, people's names in the books, that kind of thing. That was early on for us when I was in elementary school. I remember

that.

That was in 59 or so. And something else I thought about --when I was born my parents couldn't vote.

 My

mom could not. I never thought about that until we started digging into history in 1865 because the Civil Rights the Voting Rights Act was what 1964. I was 13. That was the first time my mom could vote. But I do remember every opportunity after then, when she could, she was there. And it hurts me today when we even have voter registration drives-- that's another thing we do-- 

[00:10:02] Christa: Wait, that's another thing your society does?

[00:10:04] Karen: Yes.

[00:10:04] Christa: Okay, that's great

[00:10:06] Karen: But we can't get a lot of people. People are of the opinion it's not gonna do any good. So we try to break that cycle. Not voting is a vote for what's happening. You say you don't like it but you have to vote. You have to get involved. But it's very...it's 

difficult. And I've found it's not just black kids-- young adults 18 --but we see it throughout. But disturbing to say the least.

 Prior to 1865 Society, we had an organization. Once a month we drew people together for CPR which we call Community Policing and Race Relations and that was done in collaboration with the sheriff's department and the Burgaw Police. And getting it off the ground was kind of scary because people were afraid to speak the truth and say what they thought because it It's a race thing. We don't wanna talk about it. It's just gonna cause dissension. It's gonna cause problems But then, let me go back to this, What is race? Where do we get race from? Where do what is race, in your opinion, What is race?

[00:11:10] Christa: It's a construct.

[00:11:11] Karen: It is! But it was used too to almost, I call it America's caste system.

[00:11:18] Christa: Yeah.

[00:11:18] Karen: In a sense, it is.

But anyway so we would do that, and we would choose topics and have people, we'd throw a topic out and people became more comfortable talking about issues and concerns in the community and I think it provided for unity within the town of Burgaw and county cause people were coming...

[00:11:37] Christa: What the name of this group again?

[00:11:40] Karen: The organization, we called ourselves Concerned Citizens

but the program itself was called CPR and it would take place in the community house. We came to Hampstead . We asked communities to invite us and they did

[00:11:54] Christa: And how long was this going on?

[00:11:56] Karen: This went on for, let's see. Here's what really started. I don't know if there was an incident in Pender County. A young man graduated from high school and the police out of New Hanover County went to that family's house. It was on CNN -you remember that? Went to that family's house looking for his sister.

[00:12:14] Christa: Was this just recently, like in the last couple of years?

[00:12:17] Karen: Yes.

[00:12:18] Christa: Okay. Yeah,

I remember this.

[00:12:19] Karen: And so then others showed up with guns. And my husband was like, we don't want this in our county I'm going to talk to the sheriff and see what he thinks. What can we do? He came to our home and we sat down and talked about it and he said what do you wanna do about it. And we're like we need to talk about it. We can't just act like it didn't happen? So Sheriff Cutler

Said let's think about it. Come up with a name and let's see if we can make it happen. And so we did. I said Why not CPR Because that's exactly what we need.

[00:12:47] Christa: I love it.

[00:12:48] Karen: So and 

that lasted for about maybe two years and we were like maybe we should go back to that. But it just kind of

[00:12:55] Christa: Fizzled?

But you found that it was actually bridging some...

oh, it 

did.

gaps in community?

Oh

That's so great. I love that.

[00:13:02] Karen: And I said maybe we need to activate it again, particularly now.

[00:13:08] Christa: Interesting. Now that was before-

[00:13:11] Karen: 1865

[00:13:11] Christa: Okay. And so do you feel like 1865 could carry that torch?

[00:13:16] Karen: I've been thinking about that. I've been thinking about how we can make that a part of... Our focus now is primarily history but this is more about unity. I'm thinking about it Christa. I'm trying to figure out how, or just reactivate it.

[00:13:30] Christa: It actually sounds like a really program 

[00:13:32] Karen: It was great Before the very first 

Juneteenth celebration,

didn't hear this until afterwards, people didn't attend because, based on what they had seen and heard happening in other states up north and whatever that there was gonna be shootings and killings and rioting. People wouldn't come.

But after that, I also learned that there were people in the white churches that did attend that stood up and said, that was the worst thought you could have because it was peaceful .Even now, there's no police presence. We don't need the presence that the Blueberry Festival does. Of course it's larger. But there's no... it's just a peaceful day.

It's a peaceful day of learning and understanding and fellowshipping.

[00:14:15] Christa: Let's talk about the day, 'cause I wanna hear more about what you've done in the past and what it's, grown into now.

[00:14:21] Karen: It's growing. Let me just tell you what the day looks like. It starts at 10:00 We have vendors and food trucks. So at 10 o'clock, we say Hey we're back. It's time again for the celebration. We acknowledge our guests. This year though too this is something I'm proud of. . We offer scholarships.

[00:14:39] Christa: We send them to the schools. We send them to the churches. We advertise them in the paper.

[00:14:45] Karen: The application requires an essay: why you feel like you do, what your goals are

we've even asked them to read a book and tell us what

about it. This year 

It's the first time, we are able to award four.

The scholarships are, one of them is $1,000 and the other three are $500 it's free money It can buy books It can do something

But this year like I said we're awarding four so I am happy about that

[00:15:09] Christa: So you announce them at the

Juneteenth?

[00:15:11] Karen: We will. 

And they have to be present. That was part of the criteria. You have to be present at Juneteenth to receive it. Then after that, this year we have a drum troupe out of DC. What I like about this drum troupe, they're women, but the founder lived beside me growing up. His name is Abasi. He's been all over the world teaching drumming, doing drumming, and this troupe is wonderful. They're coming back. And we try to blend cultures as well. We also have, the group is called, it's Sanu. They are Latin American dancers. They were in the Azalea Festival.

I like them because it's a colorful group with the skirts and all and they were so pleased to be asked to come.

[00:15:51] Christa: Nice.

[00:15:52] Karen: We have the curator from the North Carolina Museum of History.

His name is Earl Ijames. He and John Mallette who is a fisherman but he was a part of the North Carolina Catch project that talked about African Americans and how they were fishermen and what they did over the years.

They will do a cooking display and he'll be using North Carolina seafood.

 We have Gullah Geechee. She calls herself Gullah Geechee Girl. She's gonna bring the quilting aspect. She's bringing 12 quilts from South Carolina and she's gonna do an education piece on that.

I saw her at the Rice Festival and asked her would she be willing to come

Let's see. Oh. This is one of the things I'm really excited about. It's the Thankful Heritage Museum. It's a traveling African American history museum out of Kernersville North Carolina. They're setting up in the Arts Council building for the day and they have all kinds of memorabilia and history regarding African Americans. Do you know what Jet magazine is and Ebony magazine? 

[00:16:51] Christa: Yeah

[00:16:51] Karen: They have the entire collection. I don't know that we'll get it all but they'll bring some of that. They will bring a display of African American dolls that are not just from the present. They have African kings exhibit. It's going to be a wonderful time. And I found them by accident. I my husband to a conference and when he went to the conference, I'm looking for something in the town to do,and I saw a flyer in the hotel and it had it listed, but when I picked it up they were closed that day. So I called I didn't get an answer when I came back home I kept calling and he answered. So he's gonna come. He's already been here. He's seen what the space looks like. They're gonna be here and that's gonna be all all day.

[00:17:35] Christa: You said that's in the Art Council

[00:17:36] Karen: That's gonna be in the Arts Council building across from the courthouse But all of this is within walking distance.

[00:17:41] Christa: I don't think we said the location exactly. So this is in the courthouse Square of Burgaw. Okay. And let's give the date again.

[00:17:48] Karen: It is July the 27th Saturday from 10:00 to 4:00.

It's a family event. We have activities for the children as well. We have This year the Arts Council is setting up a tent with canvases for the children.

We have a lady that is bringing games for the mind as well as just for fun. And there is also an obstacle course for the younger children.

 The festival ends at four 

okay

which gives us time for 

sound checks for the concert that begins at five.

 The concert is just amazing. If you've been to our website, you will see the masses of people.

The website is www.the1865societyofpendercounty

We also have a Facebook presence which is The 1865 Society. Follow us. Anything we're doing, you will find it on there and the website has lots of information as well

[00:18:38] Christa: Okay

[00:18:39] Karen: It concludes with a gospel concert. I am so proud to say that for the last two years we've had Grammy winners. Grammy winners the town of Burgaw. We have a friend that's a part of the society that is a promoter.

So he is able to help us out. We had Donnie McClurkin in 2024. 

And last year we had John P. Kee out of Charlotte. But each of those have won several Grammy Awards in the gospel music category. This year we have Monica Ross who's up and coming. And let me tell you, I didn't even know about Monica Ross. People were asking us Why don't you have Monica Ross. Monica Ross and her family during COVID, were having Sunday afternoon concerts online. They have become such a hit that people say If I don't come to the festival I'm coming to hear Monica Ross. So Monica Ross is the featured guest this year along with James Murphy who is out of DC but he is homegrown as well.

[00:19:41] Christa: That's nice that they're from here.

[00:19:42] Karen: They're willing, yes, and they're excited when we ask them will they come. We have the Murrell family who also, I don't think they won a Grammy but they've been nominated. To give you a little bit of background or if you've seen the Chick-fil-A commercial with the boy with the hat. How he became I wanna say such a hit People going through that line talked about how courteous and kind this young man...

[00:20:03] Christa: I know who you're

talking about.

[00:20:04] Karen: Yes. Yes.

It's his family. They have a group called, his father's name is André, André Murrell and Kids. But they have become a hit.

[00:20:13] Christa: I know they had music had music.

I only know that he was recognized for just being so outgoing and kind in the line and, and he was in the commercials, Yeah. But I didn't know... I knew he was from here, but I didn't know they were a musical family as

well. 

[00:20:27] Karen: His sister's also an artist. She's gonna be a vendor.

[00:20:31] Christa: Very cool.

[00:20:31] Karen: As

a matter of fact we have another vendor artist from goodness from Cary. So yeah That's what's gonna happen on the 27th. But let's back up. The Friday night before we have, at The Depot, a spoken word con... not a concert, it's a spoken word program. We put out the word, If you're interested, you'd like to share your poems or whatever, let us know.

And again I was looking in our state magazine ,came across North Carolina's poet laureate who just happens to be a Black woman, the very first one. I asked her would she be willing to come and be a part of it. She said yes .So she'll here as well It's gonna be an evening of poetry and music and She's gonna be she's gonna be actually the keynote speaker Okay After they do what they do. think

 she's gonna probably, I don't know this but I said she's probably going to talk to them too about how they can become better ,or how she became, and why she does what she does

Yeah. 

[00:21:29] Christa: And this is, so for people who don't know, there's the train depot, which is n- not an actual train depot anymore. It was, but now it's a place where you can have

events 

[00:21:39] Karen: and events

yeah 

That's gonna be at 6:00 Friday evening All of this is free Everything we do is free And let me say it's free because we have to work hard We work our butts off to get the funds to make this happen The first year I'm telling you that everybody was saying it can't happen Between April and June we were able to raise $50,000

What? 

[00:22:02] Christa: That's amazing. dollars. That's first year.

[00:22:04] Karen: The very first year And that came from the town of Burgaw that came from Pender County that came from Novant that came from the banks and that came from friends and family that believe in us This can't happen unless you help Nobody gets paid in the organization Nobody every dime we collect goes back into what we do

[00:22:24] Christa: have donations increased over each

[00:22:26] Karen: They have But this is what I've noticed this year and I think it's the economy and the gas We have not gotten as much but we have gotten enough to sustain what needs to be done

I would like for people to know how to donate.

That'd be great. Um, they can go to our website and they can donate through, we have Cash App, which is $the1865society. We also have Venmo, which is the

[00:22:52] Christa: symbol,

[00:22:53] Karen: @1865, and the Square. But all of this you will see if you go to the website, which is www.the1865societyofpendercounty

In, in this donating, I would like for people to consider not just financially or money like this. We accept stock options. Oh, really? We also do, you can donate a vehicle.

[00:23:15] Christa: You

[00:23:15] Karen: So we're working with the organization Cars to get this done. So there are many, many ways And let me say this, volunteering also is great. . We always need volunteers.

[00:23:25] Christa: You can see all the different ways that you can donate- Absolutely ... the, all the different places that you can volunteer your efforts right there on the website. Absolutely.

[00:23:34] Karen: And here's another thing too We continue to get funds all throughout the year because we do fundraisers as well Let me tell you about our Christmas gala

[00:23:43] Christa: I hear about all the fundraisers

[00:23:45] Karen: Juneteenth is a product of the fundraisers Our biggest fundraiser though is the Christmas gala at River Landing They are so good They support us so well The gala gives people an opportunity to dress up before Christmas It's formal

And we have a live band we have food We have entertainment as well a comedian And each year we've had honorees I'm not ready to share who our honorees are for this year but they have been made aware and they are so excited

The tickets for the gala will go on sale probably in October, but we are-- we-- On the website, there's also a save the date. . There's a save the date flyer

[00:24:25] Christa: Wasn't there something though , at your Juneteenth event where you could also get gala tickets at a

[00:24:31] Karen: We were-- That's right. You're absolutely right. You can purchase the gala tickets at a discount price of $90.

[00:24:38] Christa: What are some other fundraisers that you have?

[00:24:40] Karen: We have an auction a Quarter

[00:24:42] Christa: quarter auction It's a

what a, what is a

quarter 

[00:24:43] Karen: I know we had to educate people and you still do 

[00:24:46] Christa: Businesses 

[00:24:47] Karen: people whoever donates items

[00:24:49] Christa: They're new items we've had weekend at the beach You get it for a quarter You How does that happen Yeah So what happens is you buy quarters or bring your own quarters We have them Let me give you the premise of it You have a paddle Your paddle has a number on it When the item goes up for sale let's say if you're interested in that item you hold your paddle up Now now get this There's about 200 people in here So if you're interested in it let's say s 75 of those people are interested and they raise their paddle There is a I call it The Price is Right type bowl and what happens is she does this has a kid pull out a number If your number is 76 you get that weekend for 25 cent But you still get to keep all those quarters So this goes on all night and people love it We do that and we offer We sell food as well but that has just become such a great fundraiser for

like a lot of fun. So just so I'm clear, you have businesses who are donating things- Yes

away. And then the pay, the people who are, they're just a quarter per item.

[00:26:06] Karen: there's a cup on the table If you want to bid you gotta put a quarter in

cup 

[00:26:11] Christa: That's so fun.

It is 

[00:26:12] Karen: It really

[00:26:13] Christa: And can kids participate

[00:26:15] Karen: They do They do and sometimes kids do things their parents don't want They're sticking it up and

Yeah 

[00:26:20] Christa: Yeah I

would love to take my kids to that.

Oh I 

[00:26:23] Karen: we it's coming up in March I'll let you know 

[00:26:26] Christa: So that's in March. Yes. Is it just once a year? Yes. you've got the quarter auction, you've got the , gala.

[00:26:32] Karen: And then we do f plate sales which believe it or not we do well with And we also for SpringFest the evening before we do a big fish fry and people are oftentimes looking for us

[00:26:43] Christa: what SpringFest is this? , Is this the Burgaw Spring - Festival? Okay. Okay. So the 1865 Society is having a fish fry, selling plates there 

[00:26:53] Karen: Prior to actually doesn't start till Saturday but the evening before there are vendors selling food there are kids dancing in the street It's a fun thing just leading up to the next

[00:27:03] Christa: Okay. Now going back to, Juneteenth, what food or food trucks do you have there 

[00:27:09] Karen: there that day?

oh my goodness this year it's Weebo's Weebo's Do you know about Weebo's

I don't. Can you tell 

[00:27:15] Christa: you tell me?

[00:27:17] Karen: Weebo's is out of Wilmington has such a following He comes to Burgaw As a matter of fact he was in Burgaw in the Family Dollar parking lot yesterday Believe it or not there were lines wrapped around waiting for his food

[00:27:32] Christa: That's nice. It

is 

[00:27:32] Karen: That's nice It is it makes us feel really great

Yeah cause we have Weebo's we have Mr J's funnel cakes Out of Clinton

We have icy trucks and I don't know all of them because I push that off to the girls that do the publicity But And then now this is something else I wanna say about our team We only have to get all this done Christa we only have about 10 people 

[00:27:56] Christa: this done

[00:27:56] Karen: Christa we only have about 10 people 10 committed people But we have to work hard but they do everything in their power They do I j I just can't say enough about them because without them it could not happen

[00:28:06] Christa: And you said no one on your team gets paid

No 

[00:28:09] Karen: one on your team gets And most of the girls and not just girls but guys work a job So the retirees are myself my husband and a few others they work and they're always willing to come to meetings and help make it happen

Mm-hmm yes We ask for volunteers People come and wanna help and they help throughout the year

[00:28:31] Christa: How do you sign up to help?

[00:28:33] Karen: How do you sign

[00:28:35] Christa: To the website, the 1865 Society of Pender County- Right ... ... .com.

[00:28:39] Karen: there's also the email address is the1865society@gmail.com We get emails for people wanting to help

[00:28:47] Christa: What about, only because my son had to, had, volunteer requirements this past year for the first time, are you using students

[00:28:53] Karen: Yes As a matter of fact that's what we were talking about using for the gala this year 

[00:28:57] Christa: talking about

[00:28:57] Karen: using for the gala this year. to help with seating and just to be an assist

[00:29:01] Christa: seating and just to be, and assist. Yeah.

Okay. so Friday night, Depot.

 PM? And then the next day on Saturday at the- the Courthouse Square, 10:00 AM until 4:00. Yes. One-hour break, and then a gospel concert.

[00:29:15] Karen: about 9:00

Until about 

[00:29:16] Christa: about 9:00. I was wondering.

should people bring their lawn chairs gospel

Okay 

[00:29:23] Karen: chairs Yes for the gospel part Yes. Yes. That's exactly It's 

[00:29:23] Christa: the whole event actually, they could just set up and-

down and around

[00:29:28] Karen: we're not having the fashion show this year But what we are having are they call themselves the Silver and Gold Steppers It's a group of don't know about Carrie senior citizen ladies that dress up in their boots and hats and do line dancing and invite people to do it well with them So that's gonna be fun

[00:29:44] Christa: And that's, that is during the day,

[00:29:47] Karen: that's during the day on the That's the one on the schedule Oh it's on the schedule

w that's on the schedule for about

12:30. 

[00:29:52] Christa: see this full schedule on the website too, I'm assuming?

[00:29:55] Karen: I will put it there

yes 

[00:29:56] Christa: know what I'm saying? So yes. Okay. what else do we need to know about That day,

 There any fees? No, you

[00:30:01] Karen: Only for the vendors only for the vendors

food trucks 

[00:30:05] Christa: Not even for the concert? Just free. That's great. That's what we have, yeah. We really, we have to work

[00:30:06] Karen: No it That's what we have Yeah we really we have to work hard to make it happen free Yeah Cause there have been those that say I think y'all need to start charging But we're like as long as we're able and we can work let's Cause people people don't like to be nickeled and dimed Yeah know what I mean But I will say this yes What happens during the concert or has is that we collect or ask people if they're willing to donate to the cause Yeah And that is very helpful They do Yeah They do People do that as well

That day for me and when I for myself just thinking about me what I love most is that I can go from here to there and I'm learning something because there's something for me to read there's something for me to see it's history It's history all throughout the day AndI'm really excited that Earl Ijames who's the curator for the Museum of History is very knowledgeable he's gonna talk about one of his subjects is foods that came out of Africa and how we are still producing those foods And the Gullah Geechee Corridor starts in Pender County and goes all the way to Florida And Earl sometimes we have to stop him because he so much and people get involved and wanna ask questions but that's a that's another piece that I think people enjoy

What you asked me I think earlier you said something about are we in other places We've had a couple of teachers from a school in Pender County and others ask us if we have chapters was the one I was looking for earlier I'm like No we don't but it's something we aspire to

[00:31:40] Christa: that be amazing?

Yeah 

[00:31:42] Karen: Wouldn't that be amazing Yes Yes it would And we talk about that And I'ma tell you we work with the historical society and the library know they're all great They call us They As a matter of fact do you remember a couple of weeks ago that house at Sloop Point

[00:31:58] Christa: Point- Yes ... 300-

[00:31:59] Karen: 300 old Yeah We were there We had so many people come up

[00:32:06] Christa: at the, h-home tour

[00:32:07] Karen: Yes we took our table we had our m information and this year we have Oh I didn't tell you about this The Museum of History closed the old one and they're building a new one

[00:32:18] Christa: In Raleigh?

[00:32:19] Karen: They called us and said We have some items We're gonna trash em If you want them you can come and get them

you want We did

[00:32:28] Christa: What did get?

You'll 

[00:32:29] Karen: see some of the Oh you gotta come and see

[00:32:31] Christa: Oh my gosh, that's exciting.

[00:32:32] Karen: They allowed schools to come as well not just us Oh we rented a UHaul and we went up there and boy we have much Yeah

[00:32:40] Christa: amazing.

One of the items was the hit at the tour we'll have her Saturday as well It's a statue She looks so real people thought she was real Of a woman enslaved woman She looks like she's been gathering veg She has a basket Her hand is in the basket but she looks so real People came up and one little girl like Why don't say something Say something But the owners when they saw us and what we had they wanted us to be on the front And it turned out to be a wonderful day We received donations from that and I think people they were educated It was a good day 

that was the, one of the first homes built in the area. Is

[00:33:21] Karen: oldest home the oldest 

[00:33:22] Christa: The oldest The oldest home 

[00:33:23] Karen: And this is this was the last time that the family was willing to let there be tours wanna say the last tour was in 2008

Oh.

But because of the 250th anniversary they decided they would open it for the last time

[00:33:36] Christa: And it was a ticketed event

[00:33:38] Karen: It was amazing I'm glad they did it and I'm glad we could be a part of that.

[00:33:41] Christa: If someone listening has never attended your, Juneteenth celebration and isn't sure whether it's for them, what would you say to encourage them to come?

[00:33:54] Karen: I would say of course it's for you It's for everyone that wants to know about their history our history And not just ab ju not just about our history but about the accuracy of the history That's it's for everybody It's not for Black green orange purple or whatever It's for everybody that wants to learn about history And again I say my husband says When we don't know our history it's like a tree without a root system

That's what I would say Come on and j come on Find out It's fun That's what I would

say, Awesome What

would you say

[00:34:30] Christa: I would say

[00:34:32] Karen: I'm going

[00:34:34] Christa: I am going.

[00:34:35] Karen: um, I would 

[00:34:37] Christa: this, that it's not... Yes, it is about the history. But it's also a cultural experience

Food, gospel music, artwork, spoken words.

Yes. Saturday, June 27th, 10:00 AM to 4:00, break at 4:00 to 5:00, wonderful concert starting at 5:00, , and then 6:00 PM the night before on Friday the 26th, you're gonna get the spoken word at the train depot in Burgaw. Exactly.

[00:35:03] Karen: with North Carolina's poet laureate. Thank you

[00:35:05] Christa: laureate.

 And before we close, what other details do you wanna give out to everyone about Juneteenth or about the 1865 Society? 

[00:35:13] Karen: Let's close with this. The town of Burgaw is one of our big, very big supporters. They were there from the very beginning. So what I would like to share and let everybody know is that they are so supportive and so helpful that the town of Burgaw has given their employees Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

[00:35:33] Christa: Oh, that's wonderful.

That's 

[00:35:34] Karen: for a small town to do that, it is amazing. It's a floating holiday, but still they have given them

[00:35:40] Christa: a small town to do that is amazing. Yeah. It's a floating holiday, but still they have given- Mm-hmm. What if,

[00:35:41] Karen: holiday means they don't have to take it that time during that day. And the reason for that was so that the, police and the services departments, they would be available. Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense. They would be avail- yeah, everybody that needed to do it. And I, I think that was good for, it, for them to even consider it- Yeah ... was amazing. Yeah. That's wonderful. And then when it came through, we were like ecstatic. Yeah. We were ecstatic. And also this year, , the mayor gave Juneteenth a proclamation, proclamation day for every fourth Saturday

June 19th is the actual day that they arrived in Texas to let the slaves know they were free and had been for two years .

[00:36:18] Christa: June 19th, so therefore that's Juneteenth. Juneteenth is June 19th, But the proclamation is the fourth Saturday of every June for Burgaw. Yeah. Awesome. Okay.

Thank you so much, Karen. I appreciate you coming and sitting with me thank you.

[00:36:29] Karen: Thank you for having me

[00:36:33] Christa: Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode of Topsail Insider, please show your support by clicking the follow or subscribe button on your favorite podcast listening platform. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Please also go to topsailinsider.com and join our mailing list.

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