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Submitted by Telfair Museums
May 29, 2025 – Telfair Museums proudly announces its 18th year of Juneteenth observance, with two events in a powerful celebration of freedom, heritage and culture. The Telfair Museums’ Juneteenth Free Family Day returns to the Jepson Center on Saturday, June 7, followed by a Juneteenth Lecture presented in partnership with the Ralph Gilbert Civil Rights Museum on Tuesday, June 10.
Admission to the Jepson Center and the Telfair Academy will be free for local residents of Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, Liberty, Bulloch, Beaufort and Jasper Counties from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 7. Family art making activities and performances take place from 1 to 4 p.m., and Family Day performances will begin with a libation ceremony on the steps of the Jepson Center, accompanied by drummers and the African Spirit (Jamal Toure). Queen-Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah Geechee Nation, will present storytelling, followed by a featured performance by author and performer Ron Daise (Gullah Gullah Island). The afternoon will also feature artist demonstrations by sweetgrass basket maker
Gregory Grant and painter Napoleon Wilkerson along with a presentation by youth of the Front Porch Step Team. The Telfair Academy will be open in celebration of the Craft Along the Coast exhibition, which includes the work of African American woodcarvers and basket makers.
Daise, a son of St. Helena Island, SC, is an author, performing artist, educator and cultural interpreter. His writings and recordings about Gullah Geechee culture and history have documented his heritage for decades. His books include Reminiscences of Sea Island Heritage, his Geechee Literature Series and his most recent historical novel, Raptors in the Ricelands, by Belle Isle Books. A 2019 recipient of the South Carolina Governor’s Distinctive Achievement Award, he is known by many as “Mr. Ron” from “Gullah Gullah Island,” Nick Jr. TV’s award-winning children’s program of the 1990s. He is a former chairman of the federal Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission and is featured in exhibits at the International African American Museum, Charleston, SC, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC.
“Telfair Museums is honored to partner with the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum to kick off Juneteenth events in Savannah this year,” said Harry DeLorme, Director of Education and Senior Curator at Telfair Museums. “We’re honored to highlight the work of extraordinary artists like Ron Daise and Queen Quet and to open our doors to families, residents and visitors from across the region.”
At 6 p.m. on June 10, Ron Daise will present the Juneteenth Lecture at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum’s Dr. Priscilla Thomas Annex, at 413 Wayne Street. Learn about Gullah Geechee culture, history and beliefs with author, Emmy-nominated performing artist and cultural interpreter Daise. Explore the resilience and dignity of Gullah Geechee people throughout systems of oppression as Daise juxtaposes readings of excerpts from his novella, We Wear the Mask, Unraveled Truths in a Pre-Gullah Community, with stanzas of “We Wear the Mask” by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. This event is free and open to the public.
Vaughnette Goode-Walker, Director of the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, states “we are pleased to partner with Telfair Museums on this now 18-year-long series of programs celebrating Juneteenth in Savannah, and to present the powerful storytelling of Ron Daise to the community.”
For more information about the Juneteenth events or to learn more about Telfair Museums, please visit http://www.telfair.org.
About Telfair Museums
Opening in 1886, Telfair Museums is the oldest public art museum in the South and the first U.S.
museum founded by a woman. The museum features a world-class art collection in the heart of
Savannah’s National Historic Landmark District and encompasses three sites: the Jepson Center for
the Arts, the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters, and the Telfair Academy. For more information
on Telfair Museums, please visit www.telfair.org.