On Sunday, June 22nd, our community came together for a remarkable and deeply moving Juneteenth Celebration. This was, by far, the most meaningful and heart-warming Juneteenth Celebration we’ve had. Everything came together beautifully to create an intimate environment where people could connect with each other, learn, and feel deeply the meaning of Juneteenth, and celebrate Black freedom and culture.
Special thanks to our partners: St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the Town of Hebron, and especially the Peters family, who came back to Hebron for the fourth year to celebrate with us and to honor their ancestor, formerly enslaved Hebron resident, Cesar Peters.
What we did:
We gathered in St. Peter’s Church for a service led completely by members of the Peters family. The beautiful service included songs, readings from the Bible and Quran, and homage to Cesar Peters and the history of the Peters family.
Following the service, we met behind the church for a dedication of a stone in memory of formerly enslaved residents of Hebron.
Then, we moved to the Parish Hall and celebrated! Delicious soul food was provided by Craig Wright, we heard and felt the incredible moving poetry of Nadia Sims, we heard slaved narratives from storyteller Ander Keitt, and we sang and danced along with gospel singer Lisa Clayton.
We’re grateful to our funders and supporters who made this possible. They include:
Hebron Greater Together Community Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; Town of Hebron; William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund; Hochberg Committee for Holocaust and Human Rights Education at Temple Bnai Isreal; Northeast Family Federal Credit Union; Century 21 AllPoints Realty, Hebron; Hebron Travel; and individuals
CT Public and NBC News reporters also joined us. This is the news segment from CT Public: https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-06-23/formerly-enslaved-hebron-residents-remembered-in-juneteenth-tribute
