WESTFIELD — For the fourth consecutive year, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Westfield is celebrating Juneteenth with an African American History Trolley Tour through Westfield.
Travelers aboard the vintage trolley will visit select sites from the 300-year history of African-Americans in Westfield. These narrated history tours are made possible in part by a 2024 Union County HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant.
The African American History Trolley Tour will run at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 15. This year’s 90-minute tour is revitalized by hop-on-board live presentations. African-American community leaders and actors representing historic figures will join the tour at significant sites to bring to life the individuals who were seminal figures in Westfield’s history. The trolley will visit sites that anchor 300 years of African- American history in Westfield, among them the Burial Grounds of The Presbyterian Church in Westfield, Fairview Cemetery, Brightwood Park and Westfield’s Black Professional Zone, including the homes of Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes and Paul Robeson.
The trolley tours, which will run rain or shine, begin at the Westfield High School parking lot, located at 550 Dorian Road. Seats are limited and registration is required. To register, go to https://bit.ly/3wNUKZG. Interested persons are asked to register by Thursday, June 13.
The price is $15 for adults and $5 for children (recommended for third graders and up) and includes a complimentary copy of the second edition of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Association of Westfield’s booklet entitled “African Americans in Westfield, New Jersey from 1720.”
Following the trolley tours, the Association encourages all to join in the Juneteenth event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., hosted by the Bethel Baptist Church across the street on Trinity Place.
Juneteenth is one of the longestrunning celebrations of the end of slavery in the United States. In the last few years, interest in Juneteenth surged as a way to celebrate the achievements of African-Americans and recognize their foundational role in the nation’s history, from the arrival of the first slave ship from Africa in America in 1619 up to the present day.
