Appalachian African American Cultural Center

265 Leona St, Pennington Gap, VA

Join us on AUGUST 6, 2022 for our 2nd annual community celebration of Emancipation Day!
Event attendees are encouraged to bring chairs and/or blankets for their families to sit on. Lunch is included, but all donations are appreciated to help us cover this Emancipation Day event and further our mission of preserving and sharing the history of Black Appalachians. We hope to see you there!

New this year: Sparky and Rhonda Rucker will be playing 2 45-minute sets during the event, Appalshop will be hosting a digitalization event for attendees, and the AAACC will be collecting oral histories from Appalachians who care to share their stories with the Center.
Join us for this amazing community endeavor!

For 150 years, August 8th has been celebrated as Emancipation Day for many people in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee. This regional holiday exists because of Sam Johnson, a resident of Greeneville, TN and a commissioner of the local Freedmen’s Bureau. Sam was a formerly enslaved individual who had been purchased at the age of thirteen by Andrew Johnson, a Greeneville tailor. Sam, his family, and the other enslaved individuals of the Johnson estate were emancipated on August 8, 1863; eight years later, Sam Johnson led an early celebration of Emancipation Day on August 8, 1871 at which he served as “officer of the day” and his former oppressor, Andrew Johnson, addressed the attendees.
Although Juneteenth is more widely recognized as “Emancipation Day,” the Eighth of August’s local connection makes it a day to celebrate in our region!

**Would you like to volunteer during this celebration? link here: https://forms.gle/BL6QiKUTAakQpHgE7**