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Washington Evening Journal
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Carnegie museum hosts Juneteenth program
FAIRFIELD — The second floor meeting room of the Carnegie Historical Museum in Fairfield was full of spectators Monday who had come to hear a talk about Juneteenth and the celebration of the end of slavery in 1865.
The guest speaker was Herb Shafer, a Fairfield native who now lives in Illinois, and who also gave a talk during last year’s Juneteenth celebration when he spoke about the Home Missionary Society in Bentonsport and its role in opposing slavery. This year, the theme of Shafer’s talk was “The DNA of Justice and Mercy,” and it was about how people today can embrace the values of the abolitionist movement.
“It’s important for us to remember the dignity of all humans,” Shafer said. “When we think about the founding principles of our nation, we think of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Abraham Lincoln made that the cornerstone of his advocacy and his opposition to slavery.”
Shafer said he was very pleased with the attendance for the event, which is in its second year in Fairfield. Last year’s Juneteenth coincided with the creation of a new exhibit at the Carnegie Historical Museum about the Underground Railroad in Jefferson County, spearheaded by Shafer’s brother and former museum director, Mark Shafer.
Herb Shafer told the audience that his brother loved learning about the abolitionist movement.
“He always wished that we in Jefferson County could have been a part of that and other great movements in history,” Shafer said.
Shafer recounted during his talk the Jefferson County and surrounding area’s connections of people involved in the anti-slavery movement. He noted that Salem played a significant role in the Underground Railroad, and the Quakers who settled in Southeast Iowa were well-known abolitionists.
“The second Quaker settlement in Iowa was Pleasant Plain, and Richland was founded by Quakers from Salem,” Shafer said. “One of the big movers and shakers in abolitionism in Iowa was in Denmark (Lee County), a preacher named Asa Turner.”
After Shafer’s talk at the museum, attendees gathered in Evergreen Cemetery to lay a wreath at the tombstone of abolitionist Nancy Yancey. Yancey and her husband, James, were the first Black couple to settle in Fairfield in 1857.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
