This past Saturday on June 15th, RISHM held its second annual Juneteenth 2024 celebration. The celebration was held in historic downtown Newport with speakers, live music, children’s activities, craft vendors and food trucks at the Eisenhower Park and Washington Square.

Our second annual Juneteenth program paid tribute to RI’s role in the founding of our nation by honoring the historic 1st RI “Black” Regiment and the many cultures representing America’s rich diversity by featuring gospel music; colonial music by Bristol Fife & Drum Corps; traditional Indigenous dance performance by the award-winning Narragansett folk artist Thawn Harris and family; drum performance by master African artist Sidy Maiga with a hands-on Drum Circle; and storytelling by Valerie Tutson of the RI Black Storytellers; plus regional historic regiment demonstrations, and more.

The day also featured a special reading of “the Thomas Nichols letter,” a recently discovered artifact by African-American Thomas Nichols who was freed from enslavement to serve in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.