B

As Jubilee Day, the day slaves were officially freed in Tennessee, approaches, the Morristown Task Force on Diversity shared ways to celebrate and also announced a new digital project.

Dr. Alpha Alexander, Morristown Task Force on Diversity chair, explained the history and importance of August 8th.

“June 19th is celebrated widely and it is the day the slaves in Texas found out they were free, but it wasn’t until two months later for the slaves in Tennessee to be freed,” she said. “Keep in mind when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation it was not for the union, but only for the confederacy.

“So consequently, when General Gordon Granger took the declaration to Texas people knew slaves were free there but not in Tennessee. It wasn’t until Andrew Johnson made the declaration in Greeneville that the slaves were freed in this state.”

It was on August 8, 1863, when Andrew Johnson freed his personal slaves at his home in Greeneville, Tennessee, Emancipation was finally acknowledged in East Tennessee.

Since then East Tennessee has been celebrating the “Day of Freedom” with a variety of concerts and festivals each year.

“It’s a day of celebration,” Alexander said. “People have picnics and have special events across the state to recognize the date.”

The task force is no stranger to this celebration, it hosted its Jubilee Day last year at Fred Miller Park. The task force has decided to make the Jubilee Day a biannual event and will host it next year.

However, Alexander encourages the community to check out other celebration events in the surrounding areas.

“The Beck Cultural Exchange Center is putting on this event and will be showing two films by talented directors,” she said. “It’s another way to celebrate August 8th.”

The center will show “Emmett Till: White Lies, Black Death” and will have Emmy-winning filmmaker, director Loki Mulholland and Pulitzer-nominated investigative reporter, Jerry Mitchell as special guests.

There will be two separate showings, with the first for VIP at 4 p.m. costing $50 for admission and the second at 6 p.m. for General Admission costing $10.

Paired with the film event is the Red-Carpet event which includes the special Annual Heritage Award presentation and a performance by Chris Blue, an American soul singer and winner of season 12 of the American talent competition “The Voice.”

“Last year they had JoAnne Bland who marched at Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This year is going to be just as good and I’m so excited for the event.”

On Saturday August 5th from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Community Action Alliance of Tennessee in Greeneville will host its Freedom Day Celebration at George Clem School.

The daylong event will have games, food and performances from J. Holiday and Urban Mystic.

Although the task force will not have the celebration event this year, it is excited to announce it will launch its new project called Morristown History Makers.

“The Morristown Task Force on Diversity is thrilled to be announcing this digital project,” Alexander said. “We will be interviewing people so their stories will be kept much after I am gone. This is so the community can preserve and learn about the history of those who live next door to us.

“It will be on our website and people will be able to watch and learn about our experience firsthand about their lives in Morristown.”

An official announcement will be released by the task force on August 8, but the organization plans to begin interviewing those interested in October.

“The first week of October is when we plan to begin the interviews,” Alexander said. “Those interested in telling their stories should get in contact with the task force and we will schedule a time for an interview.

“We will also be scheduling, during the course of this year, events and opportunities for people to be interviewed for this project such as the MLK Breakfast we have in January.

“There are so many stories that have been lost as people pass away and we haven’t been able to get their firsthand accounts of their experiences,” Alexander said. “You would be surprised at the stories people have to tell and their encounters they have had in the city.

“I think it is very important for us to document these stories and also the fact it will be made available for anyone to go back and actually see the person’s face and hear them tell, firsthand account in their own words is as equally as important.

“We didn’t have cellphones so we weren’t able to document things as we progressed in life so it’s so important that we begin collecting this for Morristown.”

Alexander wants to thank both the city of Morristown and Hamblen County for providing funds for this project to be completed.

“Both the city and the county gave us funds and this project was a part of the request when we asked for funding and we are so appreciative.

For more information about the task force or its project, Morristown History Makers, visit its website or email them at morristowndiversitytaskforce@gmail.com.