All are cordially invited to our annual Juneteenth events and tours, when we remember the news of the abolition of slavery being announced to enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865, in Galveston.

Juneteenth Historic House/UNESCO Tours

  • Saturday, June 1

  • Saturday, June 8

  • Saturday, June 15

  • Wednesday, June 19

Juneteenth Tea Cake Tours will be held every Saturday up until Juneteenth and on June 19, Juneteenth. Tours include three (3) UNESCO designated historic houses that are Sites of Memory in the Fourth Ward that tell the stories of slavery to freedom. Tours include a teacake from Lucy Pearl’s Bakery and iced red punch. (Note: We will be closed on Monday, the federal holiday)

Saturday, June 15 and Saturday, June 22

We are also offering a Visit Houston Signature Experience Tour “From Plantation to Emancipation” with reenactments by actress Khi Stephens. Feel and hear the differences of enslavement and freedom through song, historical accounts, and family portrayals.

Juneteenth Program (free) on Saturday, June 15

This event is free to the public thanks to our Juneteenth sponsors Twin Eagle and Canine Companions. Below is the agenda.

9:30 a.m. - Juneteenth Freedmen’s Town Bike Riders ride by the Yates House for this photo opportunity tradition

9:45 a.m. - Teacake reception, red velvet coffee will be served

10:00 a.m. - Historian and Poet Dr. Don Williams reads General Order No. 3

10:05 a.m. - Martha Whiting-Goddard, great granddaughter of Reverend Jack Yates, shares family history and what it was like growing up in the Yates House that was moved to Sam Houston Park

10:10 a.m. - The National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses -Houston performs (Organization’s History)

10:40 a.m. - Harold Cash reminisces his experience as a black cowboy

11:10 a.m. - Larry Callies shares his inspiration behind the Black Cowboy Museum

11:40 a.m. - Executive Director Alison Bell introduces “From Plantation to Emancipation Tour” as featured and co-designed by Visit Houston, Houston’s tourism board

Noon - Celebration ends

12:30 - 2 p.m. - Optional Tour for $25: From Plantation to Emancipation Tour. Book HERE.

Lunch and Learns have returned! Please join us for Black History and Texas History with author Dr. Ronald Goodwin on Thursday, June 20, at Noon. Dr. Ronald Goodwin from Prairie View A&M University will discuss the collection of slave narratives in Texas during the preservation efforts of the New Deal in the 1930s.

About the Author and Speaker: Dr. Goodwin has lectured at The Heritage Society and is a distinguished Co-Chair of the Levi Jordan Plantation Advisory Committee for the Texas Historical Commission, 2020-present. He is the General Editor, PVAMU Book Series, Texas A&M University Press, 2019-present. He has taught coursed in US History Survey, African American History, Urban History, American Chattel Slavery, Military History, Contemporary US History, and Early National US History.

Bring your own lunch or order lunch from Potbelly’s when you purchase your ticket online (please order lunch by June 18).

Our Juneteenth Initiatives

The Heritage Society offers Black History tours and offers Juneteenth activities. In 2021, our leadership team made additional efforts to educate Houston about life before emancipation, freedom after June 19, 1865, and the ongoing pursuit of equal rights. Below are our Juneteenth initiatives for showcasing Houston’s history better than ever.

  • To unveil the success stories of African American suffragists in Houston during 1920 through our suffrage exhibit

  • To highlight the journey of emancipation and other civil rights history through our exhibits 

  • To inform tourists and locals of the African American experience in Houston in our historical home tours being conducted during Juneteenth

  • To educate our board and leaders on original Juneteenth history in Galveston, TX on June 11, 2021

  • To collaborate with and showcase key organizations in the Fourth Ward, Freedmen's Town who are our neighbors. We now share the same City zone with Fourth Ward

  • To express Houston's history of the road to achieving equality through art, murals, poetry, and photography

  • To celebrate our new federal holiday with family Juneteenth traditions such as serving red punch and tea cakes

  • To serve on the Mayor’s Citywide Juneteenth committee 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Federal Holiday Media & Press Coverage

TOUR OF THE YATES HOUSE - GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF JACK YATES AND THS BOARD MEMBER Martha Whiting-Goddard, Senator John Cornyn, GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF JACK YATES Jacqueline bostic. Also in picture: THS member, houston historian, & photograPher Priscilla T. Graham AND THS Executive Director aliSon Ayres bell. (PHOTO CREDIT: THS STAFF, JUNE 18, 2021.)

TOUR OF THE YATES HOUSE - GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF JACK YATES AND THS BOARD MEMBER Martha Whiting-Goddard, Senator John Cornyn, GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER OF JACK YATES Jacqueline bostic. Also in picture: THS member, houston historian, & photograPher Priscilla T. Graham AND THS Executive Director aliSon Ayres bell. (PHOTO CREDIT: THS STAFF, JUNE 18, 2021.)

Private Tour for Senator John Cornyn

On Friday, June 18, Senator John Cornyn held media interviews with KHOU, KTRK, and KPRC at the Jack Yates House and received a tour from Yates’ great granddaughters. Board member Martha Whiting Goddard and her sister Jacqueline Bostic showed Senator Cornyn the home where they lived once. Senator Cornyn had been a co-sponsor of the bill honoring Juneteenth since 2011 and selected the Yates House as a historic location to share more information about his support for America's new federal holiday.

THS member and Houston historian Priscilla T. Graham, who is a subject matter expert on Freedmen's Town, was also present to photograph this Fourth Ward historic opportunity and was on standby in case the media or Senator Cornyn had any history questions on June 18, 2021.

See Graham’s vivid photos of the event HERE. See Graham's website HERE.

(In Photo: Senator John Cornyn, Alison Ayres Bell, Priscilla T. Graham. Photo Credit, Sen. Cornyn’s Staff, June 18, 2021)

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