By Ben Cox
Photos/Ben Cox and submitted to The Source
The Jacksonville Juneteenth Celebration brought together the community on Saturday, June 19 with beautiful weather, music, history and joy.
A day after the City of Jacksonville was struck by tornadoes, people still made their way to downtown Jacksonville to celebrate the nation’s end of slavery. Multiple vendors and food trucks lined the square.
The day’s ceremonies opened with the reading of a proclamation by City of Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard and remarks by Jacksonville NAACP President Alberta Robinson. DJ Eddie Baldwin, Jacksonville Drumline Institute and Robert “Lefty Preacher” Sampson provided entertainment.
Members of the Jacksonville NAACP donated information and pictures for posters that lined the Soldiers and Sailors Monument; the posters were a display about Black history in the country and in Jacksonville. One of the featured pictures was of a new brass plaque that includes a new list of Civil War soldiers with ties to Morgan County. These soldiers are primarily U.S. Colored Troops, with most having joined the 3rd Illinois Heavy Artillery and the 29th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. The plaque will be installed on the monument soon.
Also at the event, LaMarion Williams was announced as the 2025 Eric Woods Memorial Scholarship recipient.
