Sheila Arnold loves to tell a story, and she's got a good one to share on Juneteenth.
The nationally renowned storyteller is part of a full slate of programming Colonial Williamsburg has planned for the federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
The festivities begin with a sunrise service on Sunday, June 16, where acclaimed poet and writer Nikki Giovanni will give a keynote address at the Compton Oak on Market Square.
Admission to the Historic Area and the Art Museums will be free on Wednesday, June 19, when visitors can learn from a master blacksmith and experience an actual drum call.
They can also listen to Arnold, whose program "Permission to be Free," is a poignant story grounded in history that explores a couple's journey to freedom.
Typically, Arnold travels the country bringing history to life in her engaging, thoughtful manner. This time, she'll point her car west from her home in Hampton to Colonial Williamsburg, a drive she knows well from 20 years ago when she worked there in public relations and as a character interpreter.
"Being close to home is amazing because I've traveled so much and for the longest time no one in my world at home asked me to do anything," she said.
Arnold is proud that Colonial Williamsburg has been ahead of the curve when presenting history as it happened.
"We started the process of desanitizing earlier than other places," said Arnold, noting efforts that shine a light on African American programming year-round at Colonial Williamsburg. "Once that began, they became cutting edge and everyone else has had to catch up."
Colonial Williamsburg's Juneteenth programming started in 2018, three years before the day became a federal holiday.
"It wasn't on a large scale," said Janice Canaday, African American community engagement manager at Colonial Williamsburg. "That came about after the death of George Floyd. Not only did that shake the country and Virginia and the capital city, it shook this community as a whole. The whole nation watched just as they watched Martin Luther King and others hosed.
"For me and my colleagues as people of color, who put on a costume, that costume takes on a whole different life when it's a person with brown or Black skin. Before you even open your mouth, it evokes memory."
In putting together the "Permission to Be Free" program, Arnold completed extensive research. She reviewed newspaper accounts about the events on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas when General Order No. 3 announced the end of legalized slavery – more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
"It was such a tumultuous time with all these troops coming in and this proclamation, which did not happen on the front steps of a courthouse as legend goes," Arnold said. "Most people also don't know that this proclamation happened at the height of cotton picking. They were told, 'If you're not working, you're going to be arrested.' So, it's permission to be free."
It's difficult to estimate demographic data for visitors to Colonial Williamsburg, an open campus that does not charge admission for many experiences. Post-visit surveys indicate that African American annual attendance could be as low as 3%, which does not include school groups, those without an email address or anyone who bought a ticket but chose not to complete a survey. It's a number Canaday is hopeful will increase.
"We want people to come here and take ownership of their story," she said. "This is a gathering, a blending, a renewal of spirit. It's a chance to get together and learn each other. It's a chance to recreate the image of Colonial Williamsburg. It's time to build bridges. We're not telling one side of a story. We're telling the whole story."
View the complete lineup of Juneteenth events at Colonial Williamsburg.
