Program Description
Event Details
Join the Olathe Public Library as we honor Juneteenth on June 19 from 10 AM-4 PM at both Indian Creek Library and Downtown Library.
Discover a wide array of celebratory family-filled programming including storytimes, arts and crafts, and films for all ages to celebrate Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the day the Emancipation Proclamation reached enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
Event Details:
- A Black Business Pop-Up Market at Indian Creek Library (Interested in being a vendor? Learn more here.
Schedule of Events
* Events with an ASL Interpreter Present
Downtown Library:
10:00 am: *Family Storytime at Downtown (Children's Programming Room)
10:30 am to 4:00 pm Children's Craft (Children's Programming Room)
11:00 am: *Historical Figure Portrayal: David Page* (Flexbox Theater)
After the Civil War ended, newly freed, Southern blacks, know as “Exodusters” fled Southern states because of continued racism and violence, as well as economic and social poverty. During this period, some 16,000 blacks settled across Kansas with nearly 900 African American residents in Johnson County by 1880.
African American often formed their own neighborhoods in response to racist, segregationist white attitudes and actions. In Olathe, Blacks were forced to create their neighborhood away from the downtown area and instead settled in the Fairview neighborhood. Within these racialized neighborhoods, African Americans created their own schools and churches and became business owners.
In this historical portrayal, you'll meet one such business owner, David Page. Page was a Civil War veteran and one of the first Black Olathe residents. Page will be portrayed by Br. John Anderson.
1:00 pm: Visions of America: Discovering 18th & Vine in Kansas City – Stories of African American History and Culture Screening (Flexbox Theater)
2:00 pm: Hidden Figures (PG) (Flexbox Theater)