Pearson will present The Taste of Freedom: A Juneteenth Foodways Journey at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22 at First United Methodist Church, 946 Vermont St. The program is free and does not require registration, and attendees should enter through the double doors beneath the canopy on the Vermont Street side of the church; the presentation will be held in the sanctuary.
The session will trace Juneteenth from emancipation to its modern observance, with a focus on celebrations of freedom in African American communities across Kansas before Juneteenth became a national holiday. Audience members will also learn about key holiday symbols and popular Juneteenth foods, with an opportunity to try a “celebration red drink.”
The event is part of “Kansas Folklife: Celebration Kansas Traditions,” included in By the People: Beyond 250, a national initiative involving the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and it is also included in the Watkins Museum of History’s Civil War on the Border series.