The Annapolis Juneteenth celebration begins Wednesday with a gathering at Carr’s Beach, the site of a historic former beach resort that welcomed Black people and others who faced discrimination during the segregation era.
The Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department will hold a celebration and concert at Elktonia-Carr’s Beach Heritage Park and the nearby Annapolis Maritime Museum & Park at Ellen O. Moyer Park, 7300 Edgewood Road, from 3-7 p.m.
Wes Wood, the city’s recreation and parks marketing coordinator, said hosting the event at Carr’s Beach will honor “the perseverance and determination of our ancestors.”
The city is preserving public access to the waterfront, Wood said, and “we want to celebrate having that property open again for the public.”
In 1902, formerly enslaved Frederick Carr and his wife Mary Wells Carr purchased 180 acres of land in Annapolis that would go on to become Carr’s Beach. Their daughters, Elizabeth Carr Smith and Florence Carr Sparrow, operated Carr’s Beach and Sparrow’s Beach, respectively. The adjacent businesses were run separately.
Juneteenth (short for June 19) commemorates the day in 1865 when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved people of their freedom, two and a half years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Wednesday’s celebration will include a concert, vendors and a food truck. A cooling bus will be available, and people are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for seating.
Parking will be available at Ellen O. Moyer Park, with additional spaces at Bay Forest Shopping Center, Hillsmere Elementary School, and PAL Park. A free shuttle will transport people from parking areas and Moyer Park to the Elktonia-Carr’s beach, according to the news release.
The city will host a formal gala Friday at the DoubleTree hotel in Annapolis; it is sold out. The celebration continues with a Juneteenth parade starting at noon Saturday, followed by a festival at 1 p.m.
