Carnegie museum to host Juneteenth program Monday

FAIRFIELD — The Carnegie Historical Museum in Fairfield is celebrating the end of slavery in the United States with a new exhibit dedicated to abolition, and a day of activities highlighting the role local people played in the Underground Railroad.

The public is invited to participate in the museum’s celebration of “Juneteenth,” a newly minted federal holiday celebrated on June 19 to commemorate the arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas in 1865, announcing the end of slavery.

The Carnegie museum will honor the day on Monday, June 20, with programs at various locations in Fairfield. The first event is a program on the Underground Railroad in Jefferson County, which will be at 1 p.m. at the McElhinny House at 300 N. Court St. Seating is limited. Attendees will learn how the citizens of Jefferson County helped African American “freedom seekers” escape slavery into the free states and Canada.

Due to a projected heat wave reaching 100 degrees, the second program planned for 2 p.m. at Evergreen Cemetery has been altered so that it will be a drive-by only. Residents are encouraged to drive past Evergreen Cemetery to see the 10 flag-marked graves of people who were involved in the Underground Railroad.

The final event of the day will be from 3-5 p.m. at the Carnegie Historical Museum, which will unveil its new Underground Railroad exhibit. Museum director Mark Shafer said he is excited for the public to see the new exhibit. For decades, the museum has had exhibits on vocal abolitionist families, but never before has it featured their heroics all together in a single exhibit.

¬One of the most prominent families that will be featured in the exhibit is that of James and Nancy Yancey, the first Black couple to settle in Fairfield in 1857 who were also station masters in the Underground Railroad. Nancy is being represented in the exhibit as a successful, middle-aged business woman by a Black mannequin dressed in vintage bonnet and dress.

Other people who will be featured include:

The Hinshaw family, who lived south of Richland in 1844. The Hinshaws were abolitionist Quakers whose farm was a “station” along the Underground Railroad.

Henry and Ida Mae Stewart. Henry, a Black man who served in the Union army, shook hands with Abraham Lincoln in 1858 during the Lincoln-Douglas debates, just a few years before he became president in 1861.

Robert and Mary Jane Winn. Robert was born into slavery, and was the last “passenger” to be ferried across the Skunk River near the town of Clay in Washington County in either 1862 or 1863. In 1863, Robert enlisted in the Union army.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com